Secrets of a Shinobi
by 01Trycia-chan01
Summary: A few things happened the night Itachi massacred the village that Sasuke STILL doesn't know.
1. The Other Uchiha

Hello there everyone! To start with, I'd like to thank you all warmly for taking interest in my work! I'd also like to explain the setting of this story before you read! It is still set in the Narutoverse, but in this version, Obito and Madara tactically retreated with the Gedo Mazo in tow. The allied nations temporarily withdrew to underground bases within their respective nations to check on their civilians and regroup/research about anything that could help them locate the two Uchiha and take them down. During this very short period, before the nations could get anything done, Tobi and Madara struck, taking down Kirigakure and Iwagakure. All the shinobi from those two countries are under Tobi's Tsuki no mei, which is stronger at night and weaker during the day.

Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Konohagakure still stand and are currently communicating and plotting to find and destroy Obito and Madara before the two do just that to them. Naruto is in a coma from over-exertion. Sakura is taking care of him regularly and Kakashi is deeply troubled, as before he could explain himself to Obito, about the day Rin died, Obito knocked him out. Sasuke had just returned with Orochimaru and Believes that if he, his team, consisting now of Suigetsu, Juugo, and Orochimaru stick with Tobi/Obito, they will have the chance to destroy Konoha. Karin broke out of the Konoha prison, is under a well-constructed henge and plots to kill Sasuke for his actions towards her. She left Konoha a note stating she escaped to accomplish the task and didn't want to wait until after she was cleared and trusted by the village to do so. Sasuke is numb and unfeeling. He doesn't care anymore about the truth of his clan and just wants to finish Konoha off because eh believes that if he does so he can avenge his brother's suffering and die a warrior's death. He has no plans for his future and does not realize that Konoha was already destroyed once. He still listens and is stable, but he stopped caring for human life, love, and anything warm long ago. Oh yeah, Orochimaru is at the moment at the Akatsuki base, being baby-sat by Juugo and Suigetsu as per Sasuke's orders and Zetsu is spying around Suna, Konoha and Kumo to look for a way to infiltrate the bases. The five Kage survived miraculously and the Mizukage and Tsuchikage and a few of their elite personnel are staying in Konoha, trying to figure out how to reverse the Tsuki-no-mei that's been cast on their ninja. Aaaaaaaaand that just about covers it! Phew! That was a lot of explaining. Oh! One more thing: I really, really, _really_ kind of suck at fight scenes, so be gentle because I'm going to do my best! If you have something rude to say either say it in a constructive criticism kind of way or don't say anything at all, because you'll just be wasting your time because I'm just going to smile and continue writing. _Any_way, on to the story!

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_Saya looked down at her childish hands. She knew where her subconscious had taken her and decided that she officially** hated **this dream. It haunted her every time summer came around. Every time it was warm in her village it reminded her of that night… the night she saw those bodies. She had just come home from training I the nearby forest. Itachi-nii had found her, as she screamed when she saw a few members of her clan strewn about the compound's street. There were dried tear tracks on his cheeks, and his skin looked pale, like a white lily on the tombstone of grey and black that were his clothes. There was blood on his hands and a few droplets on his forehead, which shone with sweat in the moonlight. She studied her neighbor's traumatized eyes and recoiled from the unease she saw there. Had he been in a fight? Did something happen? She wondered what could have gone so horribly wrong in panic. He was suddenly upon her and had scooped her up, earning a small sound of surprise from her. Wordlessly, he began to speed away, ignoring her questions and protests. She was in his arms now, pressed against his bloodstained anbu chest guard. She felt the blood racing through his veins near his pulse point. What could have possibly… **scared **Itachi? **The** Uchiha Itachi. He was always so composed… so brave. _

_ "Itachi-nii!" She cried to the boy who had become like family to her since her parents passed away. "We can't just leave Sasuke-kun behind!" She shrieked, her tiny fists fruitlessly punching his rock-like biceps. He was a wall; a silent, brick wall. He refused to say anything until she grabbed his ponytail and tugged, with force. He finally stopped on a tree branch, far from the village, a wild look in his eyes before he composed himself. _

_ "Otouto is dead. We can't go back." His voice was at it's breaking point as he spoke. He was still shaken from what had happened. Her breath hitched. His dark grey orbs told her he was serious. Sometimes Itachi joked with her and Sasuke, but Itachi's icy demeanor told her this was no joke. Tears streamed down her childish, round cheeks. She felt the tiny droplets run down her neck as the image of her best friend cold and lifeless like the bodies of the clan members she stumbled upon flashed through her mind. Upon her tears, something in Itachi's expression changed, as if his heart had hardened and the ninja leapt off the branch and onto another before she could even begin to analyze his complex emotions. She gazed past his shoulder at Konoha on the horizon. As the village became smaller and smaller in her field of vision, she tightly wrapped her arms around Itachi's neck and hugged the older man. He seemed to have needed the comfort because he squeezed her back and didn't lighten his hold as he continued to run. She quietly sobbed into the softness of his ponytail until she felt too tired to sob anymore. If something attacked the clan… why did they have to leave? That thought was her last before sleep overcame her. _

In the dream, her adult mindset knew what had happened after that. She had awoken in the middle of the night, screaming only to find that the nightmare she remembered was reality. Itachi's somber demeanor had confirmed that. Itachi had explained to her that the clan was dead and he was bringing her to a secret village in the mountains founded by Uchiha that defected from the clan long ago due to a political issue. They were presumed dead, but Itachi had found them weeks ago. It was clear to her that he wouldn't be staying with her. The thought of starting over in unfamiliar territory scared her and she began to protest, saying she wanted to remain with him. He told her that was impossible and in a wild tantrum, she got to her feet and began to flee in the direction she thought Konoha was in. That was her home. She was determined not to leave it. However, her speed was no match to Itachi-nii and he caught her quickly. This part of the dream _always_ broke her heart.

_"Listen, Saya… This is important…" He began, eyes filled with sorrow. She shut her mouth, cutting off her own argument and listened to him. Itachi always looked serene. Never had she seen his eyes so melancholy…ever. "You have to be a big girl from now on… I'm sorry I can't stay with you, but where I am going is too dangerous for you." _

_ "Itachi-nii…" She sobbed, eyes beginning to water. He thumbed the small droplets off of her cheeks and gave her a sad smile. She began to cry harder, wishing Sasuke could have come with her. Sasuke had promised to always protect her. She still remembered his determined expression the day he said it to her. Sasuke was supposed to be here with her, not dead somewhere on a street and gone forever! _

_ "The village you're going to is filled with kind people. They will take care of you and you will be happy and grow strong one day. I believe in this and in you, Saya-chan." He spoke, his tone genuine. He knew why she was crying, but didn't broach the subject. Itachi always gently encouraged her and his words comforted her as usual. Still upset, she hugged him anyway and before she could even ask what had actually happened he had knocked her unconscious. _Her memories told her that after that she had awoken in a hospital in Yamagakure, but this dream… this evil dream had her awake floating in the sky. _Saya wasn't good with heights. Her summons was a cat so she was used to jumping from place to place, the ground never too far from her feet. Flying was always out of the question; that was Kiseki's thing. She looked down at Yamagakure below her. The mountain the village was hidden in was pink. The rocks had a special quality that hid the chakra signature of anything touching it. It was set amongst many mountains of the same kind. That however, was not her concern. Familiar with this nightmare as she was, she knew what was coming next: the hawk. She heard it screech either a greeting or a warning as it flew by her at a breakneck speed. It was larger than any hawk she had ever seen. The gust of wind it left in its trail made her bangs dance around her frightened face. Its eyes were red and black with an interesting mangekyou design in them. It flew straight towards her and terror began to grip her heart. She knew what was going to happen next. The hawk grabbed her in its oversized talons and she screamed and struggled like a mouse, unable to move her body. She was always paralyzed in this part of the dream, the grip of the talons too great for her body to resist. _

_The hawk began to fly towards the ground and her stomach flew up to her throat at the change in elevation. She screamed, but her voice refused to work for her. Her mind reeled with the panic and inability to do anything about it. Her heart raced in her ears as the ground came closer and closer. Suddenly, she saw him… it was Sasuke as she last remembered him, dark grey tunic, light pants, messy bangs and round face. He was lying on the ground with blood dripping from his small mouth. The thick, dark liquid formed a trail down his cheek and skinny neck. Suddenly, her usual nightmare changed. She almost didn't notice the difference. She zeroed in on the little boy as the hawk dropped her. His eyes seemed alert, as if they were studying her and his lip was curled up into a half smirk, as if everything she ever assumed about him was wrong. Suddenly, the image in front of her disappeared and was replaced with a blinding white light. This was far more frightening than falling to the ground. Nothingness was more frightening than something; she hated it. _Suddenly, her heart couldn't take any more fear and she awoke, adrenaline pumping through her brain and body like a drug.

She was covered in sweat and the round clock on her pale, beige wall told her it was five in the morning. She threw off her blue sheets and stepped onto the fluffy, dark grey carpet that covered her floor. She walked over to the full-length mirror on the wall adjacent to her twin-sized bed and gazed at her shaky, nude form as it began to calm down. She wrapped one arm around her waist, as if to hug herself and pushed back the bangs that framed her face more on one side than the other. She had to get a grip on these nightmares. She looked awful. She sighed, finally calm enough to think rationally, and padded over to her bathroom with the silence of a skilled, elite ninja. She flipped on the light and squinted as the brightness assaulted her pupils. She wasn't due for another mock mission with Kiseki and Akihiro until eight or nine. When her eyes finally focused, she gazed at the Uchiha symbol tiled into the wall of her bathroom.

"Sasuke…" She murmured the dead boy's name. She hadn't thought about him in a long time. He was always so cheerful and kind… but also stubborn and determined. She laughed at that last thought. When Sasuke decided to do something it was almost impossible to change his mind. It reminded her of the time he wanted to master throwing shuriken. God, she had spent so many hours watching his clumsy fingers throw the weapons at targets painted on tree trunks. Once he got the hang of it he taught her how to do it. That was so long ago… She was seventeen now and very close to becoming a jounin-level ninja in the village. She had completed so many mock-missions on the animal-summons mountain she almost knew every rock formation and forest by heart. She had even awakened her mangekyou after her teammates had almost died on one assignment. She shuddered as she turned the silver handle on her shower. As she waited for the water to heat up, she remembered how Kiseki and Akihiro had been pummeled by enemies. The need to protect them with her life triggered something in her brain and the next thing she knew there was a defensive-type susanoo, glowing pink and bright as it engulfed both of her teammates, shielding them from harm. She was wild with panic at that point and had defeated every enemy. She didn't remember much from that fight. She remembered running out of chakra, and Kiseki's warm hand on her shoulder, thanking her for saving his life. Kiseki and Akihiro had wakened their mangekyou sharingan and their susanoo in a similar fashion soon afterwards when she had gotten herself into quite a bit of trouble. She smiled as she stepped into the steaming spray of water. Her teammates cared about her as much as she cared about them. She washed her long, dark hair and blushed as she thought about Kiseki.

He was handsome, probably because his eyes reminded her of Sasuke's - they were a charming, dark grey. His hair was short and messy, held away from his face by his hitai-ate. Even more attractive was his driven personality. Kiseki was determined to become a part of the village council. He wanted to bring their village to light and make it known to the world. He hated the isolation that everyone lived in and believed that with the right kind of leadership, their home could make allies and even trade with other countries. She wanted to help him accomplish his dream, as it would benefit her in a way as well. If the village became more known and open to other countries, Saya could leave and possibly search for Itachi-nii. It was a stretch, but it was better than having to leave the village in secret because it was so strict about keeping its citizens within its walls. Last thing she wanted to be was a missing-nin.

Akihiro was her other teammate. He was quiet but had a big heart. He was an excellent fighter and knew the basics of medical ninjutsu. He spent most of his time at the orphanage where both he and Saya had grown up in. He knew the children were lonely so he visited them regularly. Akihiro would make an excellent teacher or father one day. It was too bad that he was so shy when it came to speaking to girls. How many girls had told Saya that they liked him? How many girls told her that when they confessed he stayed quiet and walked away without a word? She giggled. That usually made them mad because they didn't understand Akihiro. Sure he was handsome, he had thick, long dark hair that he kept in a low ponytail. It flowed around his head in a disheveled kind of manner that almost made it seem like the mane of a lion. It framed his face and accented his green eyes beautifully. However, Akihiro was shyer than a mouse in front of a group of bloodthirsty cats. And that was exactly how he felt when girls confessed to him: like a mouse in front of hungry cats. He wasn't afraid of girls, just of hurting their feelings. So he often couldn't form the words for an acceptance or a rejection, so he turned tail and walked away, leaving them dumbfounded or offended. She giggled to herself as she finished her shower and turned off the water. Her teammates always cheered her up.

-Elsewhere-

Today was supposed to be the day he was let loose on Konoha and purge it of all its evil. Today was supposed to be the day he died with Naruto. However, today's plans had changed. Sasuke was livid. He couldn't take himself or his thoughts much longer and now Obito was prolonging his eternal peace.

"What the hell is this, Obito?" Sasuke glared from beneath the absolutely _asinine _mask he was being forced to wear as part of Obito's "Shadow Hawk" force.

"Patience, Sasuke-kun. Zetsu has found a village much more important to capture under our Eye of the Moon. It will help us tackle Kumo and Suna. You wouldn't want either of those intercepting your purge, would you?" Obito explained, his tone telling Sasuke that he was smirking beneath his _stupid _mask.

"Tch." Sasuke was still peeved, but he understood, regardless. He wanted his fight to be between him and Konoha- no one else was to be allowed to interfere.

-Yamagakure-

Saya dressed in her skintight black pants, knee-high nin-boots with metal shin guards and a white and red, zip-up, sleeveless tunic with the Uchiha emblem on her back She strapped her weapons pouch to the bandages around her right thigh and fastened her family's sword to her back. Today, after her useless D-rank mission, she would practice her grandfather's Fuuton: Chorus of the Melancholy Dead jutsu. To her knowledge she should have mastered it by now. According to her parents, when they were still alive, everyone in her lineage before her had mastered the ninjutsu by the time they were thirteen. She was now seventeen and still unable to use the technique at it's top speed. It required unbelievable chakra control and though hers was exceptional according to the Yamagakure council, it still wasn't enough to match the speed the technique required. Maybe she could get Akihiro to practice with her today after he visited the orphanage. She grabbed her Yamagakure headband and thumbed the small engraving of a mountain range on the metal. She smiled and wrapped the black cloth around her forehead, then proceeded to tie her still-damp hair into a low ponytail, allowing her bangs and layers to flow around her face and head freely. Lastly she grabbed her most precious necklace off of her nightstand. Saddened, she fiddled with it as she gazed at the thin metal chain that had seemed to grow shorter over the years, entirely due to it being made for a child and not an adult woman. The pendant was a delicate ruby shaped into a flower, held together by a white-gold center. She still remembered the day Sasuke gave it to her, but before she could replay the memory into her head her bedroom door burst open and she had to ready a kunai incase she was to be promptly attacked.

Thankfully the intruder was only a tense-looking Kiseki. Saya blushed. Thank god her nightmare had awoken her early. If Kiseki had burst in this way sooner, he'd have seen her naked.

_"Thank you for watching out for me, Sasuke-kun." _She prayed to her deceased friend as her blush deepened. What would Kiseki have thought of her if he _had _seen her body? She shook her head free of those kinds of thoughts and gave Kiseki a questioning look. He seemed to still be catching his breath so she waited patiently for him to speak as she tied the small chain around her neck with care.

"We're being attacked." Kiseki spoke as he watched her close the clasp behind her neck.

"What? No we're not. The village is quiet, not to mention hidden and isolated in a mountain range almost impossible to navigate through. What enemy could have found us?" She countered and tightened her grip on her kunai. If this wasn't Kiseki…

"They're silent soldiers, Saya. A few of us almost fell to their Genjutsu! Akihiro is already out there fighting, trying to help the village evacuate but it's almost impossible. We have a front line fighting them but we need your susanoo to make a barrier around the village so the civilians can get to the escape tunnel." Kiseki explained. He looked disheveled but he was still handsome. He had thrown on his black pants and haphazardly tucked them into his nin-boots. His chest guard wasn't buckled on one side and exposed more of the mesh he wore underneath it.

"I can do that. That's no problem. Is everything going according to protocol? No one has used their sharingan yet?" Saya spoke, trying not to stare at her teammate and reveal her attraction to him.

"No not yet. But I have a plan." Kiseki smirked as he noticed her eyeing the unbuckled shoulder strap of his chest guard. He fixed it, subtly embarrassed and began to speak as his masculine fingers fiddled with the clasp of the armour.

"I was thinking you could show up and drive their forces back a bit, then active your mangekyou and have your susanoo wrap itself around the village. Akihiro and I can stay behind to help you fight off the guys while the villagers escape through the tunnel. Once they're gone the three of us could think of a retreat plan, maybe meet up with the rest of the village later to avoid potential discovery if they somehow manage to tag us. The council already authorized this plan of action so I need you there, now… probably five minutes ago..." He spoke in an authoritative tone.

"All right. Who are these guys anyway? Did they say anything about what faction or whatever they're from?" She asked, as she made sure all of her weapons were on her, including the henna-tattooed summoning seal on her left wrist. It hadn't begun to fade, despite her drawing it on a few weeks ago.

"They haven't said anything. The three of them are dressed in black, hooded cloaks with red clouds on them and they have different colored masks. It's strange and it doesn't help that they're strong. The two main guys seem to be very good at genjutsu because they have regular-looking ninjas under their control, somehow."

"There's only three? They must be crazy-strong! And 'under their control'? That's… odd… how do you know they're under control via genjutsu?" She questioned, dark eyebrows narrowing out of confusion.

"They're having normal conversations. They smile and laugh like they don't feel any pain even though they're being attacked, like in their own reality they're in their villages." He replied, seeming unnerved by the situation.

"All right let's hurry, then!" She stated, not wanting any innocent people to get hurt. She saw Kiseki gazing at the Uchiha symbol she painted above the headboard of her full-sized bed. He was smirking.

"Jeez, we should just call you 'Konoha' from now on. You have more Uchiha pride than all of the villagers combined. You know the pride is part of the reason this part of the clan originally defected, right?" Kiseki explained.

"I know… but I don't care. I'm proud of my blood!" She exclaimed as she hopped out of her window and into the street below. Many villagers were running to the evacuation tunnel entrances. Saya felt her heart race as she and Kiseki ran towards the direction they were coming from. The anticipation of a battle had her adrenaline pounding through her body in a way that could only be understood by those who had felt it before. That pumped feeling before a big battle settled in her chest as she prepared to fight an enemy… a REAL enemy… not something simulated by the Nin-cats on the summoning mountain where they usually went to complete missions to train themselves for an invasion like this one.

A few explosions sounded in the distance to the left and Saya picked up her pace. Kiseki growled low, frustrated like a future leader should be, and sped up as well. After what seemed like far too long, they arrived at the front of the village. The Yamagakure nin had done a good job holding off the three mysterious cloaked figures without activating their sharingan and fending off the hazy-eyed ninjas that seemed to obey their command. Only a few buildings had been destroyed by the explosions she had heard not too long ago. Saya pulled out a kunai and fought off a few genjutsu-possessed people before one of the cloaked figures attacked her with a long sword. She blocked with kunai in both hands and growled at the man.

"You! What the _hell _are you doing here!" She shouted at the red-masked figure, the adrenaline kicking her emotions into high gear. She was ready for this fight. Maybe the adrenaline would help her perfect her grandfather Izuna's technique. She was only supposed to use it in dire situations where her loved ones were going to get hurt so today was the perfect day to unleash it on their attackers.

-Sasuke-

The girl who he attacked seemed so familiar to him, but he couldn't place his finger on where he had seen her before. She was gorgeous; perhaps she was a kabuki actress in one of the expensive restaurants Orochimaru did drug exchanges in? Her eyes, however, reminded him of Itachi's. They were deep and almost endless in their complexity, but entirely focused. She appeared angry, but in reality she was calculating something…measuring something. It suddenly hit him that she had the eyes of a skilled actor… That aggravated him. Somewhere deep down those eyes judged him, just like his brother's before he killed him. It made him desperately want to know what she was hiding behind her skilled façade. It made him want to break her down until he figured her out. He decided to hold back his chidori and fight her until he figured out who she was. He kept swiping at her with Kusanagi but she was skilled in swordsmanship. This was obvious as she had a sword on her back, but refused to draw it and was able to predict where his Kusanagi attacks would come from next. Why she didn't want to draw her sword and thus battle on equal ground with him, he had no idea. Was she being pompous and overconfident, or was she just that sure that she could fend him off with just a kunai in each hand? Hn. Just like Itachi… always underestimating him even during their last battle.

With renewed fury he spun, slashed and swung only to have her expertly dodge every move. He finally got sick of her trickery and ran up to her as close as she would let him. When the blade of his sword collided with her kunai, he placed his right heel behind her left one and pushed with all the force his body could muster. She fell backwards, tripping on his foot and he smirked behind his mask at the shocked expression on her face. He tried to run Kusanagi through her throat, but she turned her fall into a backflip and instead his blade became caught on a thin piece of jewelry. Suddenly, the delicate chain around her neck snapped and her eyes grew wide at the sound of tiny silver chain links braking apart.

"NO!" She screamed as she reached for the jewelry as it flew off of her neck and towards his face. He caught a glimpse of the pendant just as she grabbed it before she fully back flipped and he stopped dead in his tracks. His heart seemed to stop for a few beats as well. He remembered that necklace. He even remembered who he gave it to. But how did this girl have it!? It should had been buried with her ashes after the massacre… He narrowed his eyes as he watched the girl's shocked expression as she looked at the necklace. It obviously meant a lot to her as she began to cry angry tears. Suddenly her head snapped up and her glare was so furious he found himself flinching. No more games. She became all business as her small fist clenched around the necklace... _his _necklace that he picked out for _Saya-chan_, not this _wench_ who obviously at some point stopped in Konoha and robbed his childhood friend's _grave. _Bitch. She was going to die. Saya was always special to him. He remembered her smile to this day and this evil… putrid… _disgusting _woman… had the _nerve _to rob _his _Saya-chan's grave… Death. He would herald her death and send her to hell. Definitely.

"Saya what the hell are you waiting for! Activate mangekyou and susanoo! We can't hold them back much longer!" A shorthaired, disheveled-looking man screamed. Wait…_Saya_?

"All right!" The girl in front of him called as she sniffled. He looked closely at her… and then he realized… exactly who she was… Her face… it was thinner than from his memory, she was taller and far more developed, but her hair and the way it fell around her face… this was… she had… _survived? _Had Itachi somehow _forgot _to kill her? No… there was a purpose to everything his brother did. Had he possibly left her alive for him to discover eventually? What the hell was going on?

_"Sasuke-kun! Let's train today!" _He heard her childish tone in his head and matched it to the aged tone he had just heard now. It was definitely Saya-chan. He wasn't mistaken.

"Mangekyou Sharingan!" She screamed. She had the mangekyou? He was still frozen in place, Kusanagi in hand. He watched through the eyeholes of his mask as her sharingan appeared, but quickly spun and then bled into a design in her eyes. It looked like a black sealing pattern around her pupils on a red background. She dropped her kunai and formed a concentrating seal with her hands and closed her eyes. He suddenly felt her chakra rise and noticed a pink tinge cover her body. Suddenly a susanoo, much different from his own, Madara's or Itachi's appeared around her. It was pink as well.

"Susanoo: Kai!" She shouted. Why was she releasing it? Suddenly the entity leapt off of her and expanded to cover the large mountain village they were sent here to attack. He growled as she saw Obito fighting someone several feet to his right. Bastard failed to mention any Uchiha lived in this village… Saya's Susanoo pulled out a small dagger and dug it into the ground: a clear defensive gesture. She had grown into a defensive-type of fighter?

"Kiseki! Akihiro! Guide everyone through the small opening!" She shouted, but her comrades had already begun to move before she finished her sentence. The ninjas fell back and disappeared through a tiny opening behind the dagger until only her two teammates were left fighting off Obito and Madara.

"Fool! What are you doing just standing there!?" Obito screamed at him as his kunai connected with another held by a long-haired quiet-looking man. He too was an Uchiha as his sharingan had activated directly after Saya unleashed her susanoo. "Attack her!" He commanded, but Sasuke was frozen in place. Attack her? Saya? … The little girl he had cried over… … The little girl who had played with him and trained with him… the little girl who he had rescued from being bullied that day her parents died… … … His heart pounded… He couldn't attack her, but he couldn't just sit back and watch her get attacked either… He felt it: the feeling of having to make a life-altering decision. It shook him to the core. He had to choose between his childhood friend and his means to his end… he could just carry out his goals of revenge himself somehow, couldn't he? Her longhaired comrade suddenly activated his susanoo to block Obito's fireball jutsu. It was blue and held nun chucks and a kunai. It swiped at all of the Kirigakure and Iwagakure ninja Obito had conquered and sufficiently knocked them about twenty to thirty meters away, allowing Saya to concentrate her chakra on completely sealing the village within her susanoo. He heard Obito growl and felt his chakra speed for Saya.

-Saya-

She pulled out a kunai as she saw one of the cloaked men run towards her. She kept her chakra focused by keeping her left hand in a seal. This would take a lot of chakra control but it wasn't like she hadn't practiced fighting while using her susanoo's defensive capabilities before. Kiseki and Akihiro made sure she wasn't just going to be completely useless while defending something or someone with her susanoo. She silently thanked them for being so hard on her.

The blue-masked man launched himself at her and she parried his knife with her own. He was too quick however, and she was quickly losing the battle against him. Her eyes caught sight of the man with the red mask. Why had he stopped fighting her? He was still frozen in place. Had Kiseki caught him in a genjutsu? Her eyes found Kiseki battling what remained of the possessed nin these men had brought with them. He hadn't yet activated his sharingan. Perhaps Akihiro had cast his genjutsu?

-Sasuke-

Sasuke watched as Saya screamed and said she'd never give up on her village…that she would never let anyone hurt her Uchiha brothers and sisters… he was right: this village was filled with Uchiha! And Obito… the crazy bastard had wanted to control all of them to strengthen his army against the remaining villages that they had not yet conquered. What a pompous idiot to think he could control a whole army of sharingan with his pathetic eyes! Sasuke hated being manipulated. The fact that he wasn't given another crucial piece of information made his blood boil.

He saw Saya grunt and struggle. He was done being controlled. He saw Obito pour chakra into his kunai. The strength of the energy sent Saya's kunai flying out of her hand and left her open for attack. She was about to jump back, but at some point Obito had tied nin thread to her ankles. She was going to die if he didn't do something… and soon. Finally getting a hold of himself, he flash stepped, hoping he'd get there in time to save her. Screw Obito. Screw Madara. They weren't going to take this past of his past away… He wouldn't allow it!

-Saya-

Everything happened in slow motion. Panicked tears began to stream down her cheeks. She was going to die. That kunai was headed straight for her ribcage where it would tear through bone, muscle and vital organs such as her lungs and kidneys. Still, she held tightly onto her susanoo, believing that maybe she could dodge the attack somehow or that Kiseki or Akihiro would come to save her.

_"Sasuke-kun…" _She prayed. _"I know you've always looked out for me… please… if you can help me somehow this once… please!... _"Sasukeeeeeeeee!" She screamed, fearfully shutting her eyes in anticipation for impact, but an impact never came. She heard metal clanging against metal, and opened her eyes. The red-masked man was protectively in front of her. His sword had blocked the blue-masked man's kunai. Akihiro stood just a few feet shy of them, ready to protect her, but he would have been too late, had the masked man not arrived when he did. Akihiro's mangekyou eyes were shocked, almost as if he didn't believe a catastrophic disaster was so narrowly avoided. Her teammate seemed to understand that the red-masked man had switched sides for some unknown reason and turned his back to continue fighting the third man who donned a yellow mask. At some point, the red mask had cut the twine around her ankles, allowing Saya to move freely.

"Saya, they're all evacuated! Let's go!" Kiseki ordered. But Saya wasn't stupid; these guys were skilled, even if one of them seemed to be on their side. One of them would have to stay back while the other two left. Since Saya was the only one with the abilities to keep attackers at bay for extended periods of time, she decided they would have to implement their survival strategy. Besides, she wanted to find out who the masked man was.

"Kiseki activate your susanoo! You and Akihiro blast these guys away and run through my defenses! I'll make an opening for you! I'll stay back here and me and this nii-chan will think of a way to join up with you!" She reasoned. Kiseki gave her a bewildered look, as if she were crazy.

"That's the dumbest thing that ever came out of your mouth!" He shouted as he blocked a wind-based chakra attack from his opponent's fan.

"Put your male pride away for a second and assess the situation, you jerk!" She snapped back angrily. This wasn't time for him to showcase his leadership and valiance. They would have to be practical. He would have to realize that escape was impossible for the three of them. If at least two of them got to the tunnel and covered their tracks there would only be one victim from this invasion as opposed to three or more. Kiseki seemed to understand because in seconds his susanoo was above him and dealing serious damage to both the blue-masked man and the yellow-masked man. They retreated while the two enemies took time to recover. Kiseki ran through the opening Saya made for him first, but Akihiro stopped next to her. She gave him a confused look as she watched his feet remain glued to the ground.

"What are you doing! Hurry up!" She scolded. Before she could take a breath to scold him again, Akihiro, shy and blushing, ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders. His now olive green eyes gazed into hers and she wondered what on earth was going through his mind.

"Saya-chan… come back alive…" He pleaded; half-knowing there was no point to such a request in her situation. His hands squeezed her shoulders in emphasis. He looked troubled. Akihiro never morally agreed to their survival plan but Kiseki had convinced him that in a dire situation it was the right thing to do. Kiseki himself didn't like the idea but he couldn't argue with Saya's logic. The girl never had a problem martyring herself for a greater cause.

"I'll try…" She murmured back. She watched him steel his expression, nod, then turn and exit through the opening her susanoo maintained for him. He seemed to be headed straight for the orphanage. Of course Akihiro would check the ruined building first. He cared about those children more than the people who took care of them. Saya gulped, regaining her composure as she focused on the fight at hand. The red-masked man stood in front of her, his sword drawn, watching his former faction recover.

"You won't die here…" The red-masked man seemed to promise. His voice seemed so familiar to her… who on earth was he! She knew she heard him somewhere before. There was a tone in his voice she recognized but she couldn't put her finger on where she previously heard it. Suddenly, the blue masked man rose just as Akihiro exited the ruined orphanage with two tiny, injured bodies in tow. It would take him about three minutes to get to the underground escape route. She had to survive for three more minutes and think of an escape plan somehow. Kiseki's susanoo had knocked out the rest of the possessed nin when he pushed the yellow and blue masks away, so all she had to worry about was working well with the red-mask and managing to get away alive, which wasn't likely.

"Who are you anyway?" She asked, but the red-mask couldn't answer her, he began to fight the blue-mask while the yellow-mask continued to somehow… piece himself back together. It was the oddest thing, almost something you would see in a nightmare. His arm as torn apart but it did not bleed. His flesh seemed to pile atop itself where the wound was, exactly like a child putting together a paper mache sculpture.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… See this is why I can't tell you anything Sasuke-kun… you react like this…" The blue mask purred as she pulled out a chokuto. _Sasuke_-kun…?

"_Oi! Saya-chan! Wait up!" _It couldn't be _her _Sasuke-kun. "Sasuke" was a common name, anyway… Funny how she begged her Sasuke-kun's spirit to save her, and he sent another Sasuke-kun in to help. She giggled to herself. "_Arigato…"_ She thanked and tightened her grip around the necklace the boy had given her so long ago. She placed the necklace in her weapons pouch at her side and strengthened her susanoo.

"Hn. You just didn't want me to kill you too soon for this…" The man overconfidently deadpanned in response and readied his sword, plus a heap of lightning chakra in his left hand. Saya gazed at the ball of crackling energy. The sound coming from it was like a thousand chirping birds. It was almost deafening…

-Konoha Hospital-

Naruto awoke suddenly, startling Sakura. His blue eyes were wide as the energies on the wind registered in his brain. Kurama within him commented on how it was about time he woke up and that Sasuke seemed to need him, as he was raising and lowering his chakra in a flickering pattern that mimicked Morse code. It was clear he was in trouble, trying to say, "S.O.S." Sasuke was too proud to ever ask for help. Something must have changed. Naruto was right to think so because Sasuke's chakra felt cleaner… it was only partially tinged with hatred.

"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked as her tray of items dropped. She ran over to him and hugged him, crying. Since they came home with Naruto's body on a stretcher, she believed he probably wouldn't wake up. He placed a hand on her back, comfortingly and grabbed his hitai-ate off of the side table next to his bed.

"Sakura-chan…" He spoke in a serious tone. Sakura looked up at him and released him, placing herself on the bed next to him. She knew very well to listen closely when Naruto's cheery, upbeat demeanor became informative. "… tell baa-chan to send Kakashi-sensei in after me. Sasuke… he's… his chakra's completely changed! He's calling for my help!" Naruto shouted, losing the composure he had just a few seconds prior, and then launched himself off of the bed and out of the underground cabin that functioned as a makeshift hospital. Naruto activated his golden kyuubi cloak as he raced past shocked shinobi in bandages and sped toward Sasuke, trusting Sakura would send the message to his Hokage. Tsunade would growl and scream about how Naruto just did whatever he wanted but she wouldn't hesitate to send him back up or disbelieve what he had to say.

-Kiseki/Akihiro-

Akihiro could see his teammate's back just ahead of him. He tightened his grip on both Nanami-chan and Atsushi-kun and pushed off of a concrete building, launching himself toward Kiseki with the power of his chakra.

"Akihiro." Kiseki greeted once Akihiro was running side-by-side with him.

"Kiseki listen up." Akihiro spoke in his usual low tone as they approached the entrance tunnel to the escape route. It was a large tunnel hidden by genjutsu in the rock that could mask the faintest traces of chakra. It was completely invisible to anyone who didn't know where it was.

"What is it?" Kiseki asked as they entered and began to catch up with the others. They ran through the tunnel until they reached the end of it. They stopped to speak before they rendezvoused with the other shinobi waiting for them in the cave.

"I'm going to drop these two off and go back there." Akihiro explained. "I can't leave Saya alone, no matter how practical it is." He explained, his tone emanating finality. Kiseki smirked and clapped a hand on Akihiro's shoulder, his hand making a muffled, smacking sound as it collided with the cloth of Akihiro's hooded jacket.

"I was going to do the same thing, but let the council know first." He responded, relieved that Akihiro would be going back with him.

"Akihiro-nii-chan won't be escaping with us to the other village?" Nanami asked, rubbing a tiny first across her sad, dark eyes. Her other hand had broken when a beam collapsed on her. Akihiro gave her a sweet, fatherly smile.

"No, Nanami-chan, but I'll be back soon. I promise." He responded.

"Okay… Nii-chan?" She asked, a light blush on her round, childish cheeks.

"Yes Nanami-chan?" Akihiro tenderly responded to the six-year-old.

"Can we play house again when you come back?" She asked with round, dark eyes he couldn't possibly say "no" to. Akihiro laughed at her puppy-dog face.

"Of course, Nanami-chan." He smiled.

"And can we play ninja afterwards!?" Atsushi piped in, his tanned face donning an excited expression despite his broken leg.

"Of course." He stated and reached behind to ruffle the boy's mop of dark hair. "Now you two have to go with Kiseki-nii-chan, so he could take you to the medics and the rest of your friends, okay?" He explained and both children responded affirmatively.

"I'll meet you on the battlefield once I get things squared away with the council." Kiseki responded.

"Sure, just try to hurry. It's been past the three-minute mark. Saya might be in trouble, with or without that masked guy's help." Akihiro mentioned, a grave tone in his voice. Kiseki nodded and positioned Atsushi on his back, and Nanami in his arms, like they had been positioned in Akihiro's care, and the two friends parted in opposite directions.

-Battlefield-

Saya had let her susanoo drop. It had been seven minutes that she had spent dodging and blocking together with the red-mask. Their opponents frighteningly spoke of sending in back up… some guy named Orochimaru, who apparently would be of great help to them.

"Hey, red-mask-Sasuke-no-nii-chan…" Saya began as she activated her susanoo armor, blocking a direct hit from the yellow-mask, who coincidentally used the same weapons and techniques as her grandfather's deceased brother. "We have to finish this quickly…" She stated after she blew the guy back with her susanoo's dagger.

"I have a plan." The mysterious gentleman stated after he threw several shuriken towards the blue-mask, causing the man to jump backwards far enough to have a private conversation with her. "And it's Sasuke. Just Sasuke." He corrected her.

"Well you better talk and fast. The yellow guy is advancing…" She murmured, preparing herself for another string of attacks.

"As an Uchiha you should have fire-based jutsu. Is that correct?" He asked, his tone imploring her to answer quickly.

"Yeah. On your mark I start breathing fire everywhere while you sneak around and assassinate?" She guessed in a questioning tone.

"Hn." His tone sounded almost proud, or impressed. "Exactly." She could feel him smirking behind his mask.

"Allright." She agreed. "Let's do this." He nodded in response. The two opponents ran at them again, weapons drawn.

"Ready?" His deep tone asked.

"Yes." She responded, her hands prepared to flash through seals that came like second nature to her.

He waited two more seconds for the enemies to get closer… "Now!"  
He snarled as he charged forward, Saya's fire jutsu blazing all around him, confusing their opponents. She must have cast five or six different fire-style techniques an in the next ten seconds the four ninja were engulfed in a dome of fire, where scalding hot fireballs attacked and flew out from random directions at the yellow and blue masks.

Sasuke smirked to himself as he made three clones and transformed two of them into fireballs to mingle with the real fireballs that were coming from Saya's technique. He attacked Tobi and then Madara. They did a good job of dodging. This battle was beginning to look bleak to him. Three minutes later, all of Sasuke's clones were dispatched with a kunai. Madara began to look impatient. The ancient man sighed; sounding aggravated as he waited for another clone to suddenly appear as he dodged the Uchiha woman's technique. She vaguely looked like an extremely feminine version of his brother, Izuna but he put that thought aside. Sasuke was the threat this time. Said Uchiha suddenly exploded upwards out of the ground, chidori crackling and aching to meet his former leaders. Obito was surprised for once and quickly jumped away. Madara seemed bored as he used his fan to block the ball of electricity.

"Is that all you have to offer? You are a failure of an Uchiha." His gravely tone insulted, causing Sasuke to glare at him through the eyeholes of his mask. The younger Uchiha back flipped and landed next to Saya, taking a defensive stance.

"Uchiha?" Saya wondered aloud as she dodged a spray of kunai from the blue mask. Sasuke seemed to stiffen as she rolled away from the weapons. If that was his last name… could he be _the _Uchiha Sasuke… had her childhood friend really survived? Or was he someone else? Was there another Uchiha Sasuke that survived that night that she didn't know about? She didn't think Itachi-nii would lie to her… not about Sasuke-kun… his own brother…

"I've had enough of this trivial battle." The yellow-mask spoke, angry. He pulled back his fan. Saya was unprepared for what happened next. One swing of the fan and her dome of fire had become a tornado that was spiraling back towards her. She couldn't jump far enough to dodge. She curled in on herself, hoping she wouldn't be burnt too badly, but found that the action was useless. No pain came. Was she dead? When she dared to open her eyes she was in Sasuke's arms. He had caught her and retreated faster than she could take a single breath. "Amazing…" she thought as she looked up at his red mask. As he set her down, she reached for the offending wooden object that prevented her from confirming his identity, wanting to see the face of the man who fought with her, but he batted her hand away like a parent pushing a child's hand away from something hot, and kicked her away, then back flipped, successfully dodging a grand fireball technique from Madara.

"Damn it! Pay attention!" He scolded her, and then flashed through more seals. He would have to use Kirin, but first he would have to disrupt the weather in his favor. _"Naruto… hurry the hell up!" _He snapped in his mind as he had fire burst up from the ground towards Obito and Madara. The flames traveled where they needed to go and slowly but surely, the rain clouds that were already there began to look heavier and darker.

In a yellow flash of light, as if in cue, Naruto appeared. He dropped a seal-covered kunai into the ground as he greeted them both with his trademark smile and "Yo." Obito and Madara seemed to hesitate as the odds slowly began to tip in their opponent's favor. Suddenly, Madara threw off his cloak and his mask, officially finished playing games. He earned a shocked gasp from Saya.

"You…." She whispered. "You're… Uchiha Madara!" She shouted, and then suddenly furrowed her brows in anger. Playtime was officially over. Somehow, her grandfather's murderer had been resurrected. It was her duty, as his descendant to take him out. She would have to use Izuna-jii-chan's technique. The Fuuton: Chorus of the melancholy dead. It would inhibit Madara-jii-chan's ability to use chakra, thus leveling the playing field significantly and even tipping the battle in her favor. However, if she missed, she was done for. She'd be out of chakra and out of ideas and the man, hateful as the stories said he was, would most likely kill her. She drew her grandfather's ancient sword and held it out in front of her. The deceased man's eyes widened.

"That…. That is… my brother's sword! How did you get it!?" He growled. He had assumed that the day Izuna died, some disgusting Senju had stolen his prized sword off of the battlefield. Was he wrong? Why did this Uchiha child have it?

"My name is Uchiha Saya. I am the descendant of Uchiha Izuna. I _will _bring justice to my grandfather… you **murderer**!" She screamed and began gathering wind-natured chakra into the blade of her sword. She manipulated the chakra so it made the blade and the air around it vibrate. Madara gaped at the girl in awe… he could sense no lies within her tone or eyes… This was his _niece_…

-Sasuke-

"Who's she? Why does she have the Sharingan?" Naruto asked as he appeared next to his old friend. Sasuke was surprised his eyes couldn't keep up with his ex-teammate.

"She just said who she is, usuratonkachi." Sasuke stated, using his trademark insult to describe Naruto. Naruto gave him a peeved expression and narrowed his eyes. The kyuubi jinchuuriki was about to snap something just as intelligent back, but Sasuke's expression made him realize the Uchiha would rather not talk about it so he held his tongue and changed the subject.

"What's with the _stupid_-looking mask, anyway?" Naruto pestered with attitude as he reached for the offending wooden object obscuring Sasuke's face. Naruto hated it when he couldn't see people talking to him. It reminded him of anbu, how they were always silent, always unseen, and Haku, whose identity he could have found out sooner during their battle had he not been wearing his mask. Sasuke batted his hand away, earning a confused glare from the blonde and soon a short wrestling match ensued. Sasuke put up a good mock-fight, but Naruto won by gluing one of his fingers to the mask with his chakra and successfully pulling it off as he simultaneously pushed on Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha turned his face away from his childhood friend, nervously. Suddenly he was very… _very _embarrassed to reveal himself. What would Saya think if she found out everything he had done so far…everything he had claimed to do? Would she be ashamed of him? How could she _not _be ashamed of him even _if_ he explained his reasoning? Thankfully he didn't have to worry too much about her seeing him as she was extremely focused on her battle with Madara. Naruto sensed his old friend's feelings and smiled to himself. It was good to see Sasuke feeling something other than hatred.

"Don't forget you have a battle to fight as well." Obito muttered over the howling coming from Saya's sword. The sound was ear piercing and prevented one from hearing his own thoughts, so Naruto shot forward, closely followed by Sasuke, and then followed by Obito. Once the blonde successfully relocated their fight about twenty yards west from Saya's struggle, the two comrades continued to face off against their sensei's ex-teammate.

-Akihiro-

He could sense his teammate trying to use the Melancholy Dead technique. He would have to hurry if he wanted to help her. He broke through the last few streets of the village and ran up the side of one of the pink cliffs the village entrance was located in between. He diminished his chakra and remained invisible as he climbed up the cliff and then down around it to get behind the man who previously wore a yellow mask. Saya looked angry and he wondered what could have possibly ticked her off to the extent where she would risk using the Melancholy Dead technique, knowing she couldn't possibly make her chakra travel fast enough through air to reach her opponent and poison their chakra system. He cracked a chunk of pink rock off of the cliff and broke it in two. He stuck the two pieces in each of his pockets, hoping they were big enough to veil his chakra as he activated his mangekyou and unleashed his susanoo. The chakra-masking rocks seemed to work since the man was screaming back at Saya, unaware of his Susanoo's nin-thread wrapping around his ankles stealthily.

"You killed my grandfather on the battlefield! He was your brother! He loved you!" Saya screamed, tears streaming from her eyes.

"He deserved it for defending that Senju!" Madara screamed back. The two began to throw kunai and shuriken at each other, but the weapons from one opponent collided so perfectly with the weapons from the other that they just fell onto the ground in between them.

"He wanted the fighting to stop! How could you brutally MURDER your brother for wanting peace for his clan and his family!?" She shrieked as she threw a kunai at her uncle's face.

"His…family…? but it was only us!" Madara countered by swinging his fan. Saya's kunai had been infused with chakra and circled around her uncle's weapon. When the right moment came, she pulled on the invisible twine attached to the kunai, and ripped the fan out of her uncle's hands, casting the weapon somewhere behind her.

"You're so stupid! You must've always been stupid and unaware of human emotions! My grandfather was _with _someone! That day… that day that he died… he had found out his lover was pregnant! He tried to tell you that the fighting had to stop and you… you disgusting _swine_… you _killed _him! No one deserves to die that way! No one!" She screamed. "And now… now that you know… I'm going to put you to rest!" She shouted above the howling the wind around her sword made. Madara looked nervous, but still smirked, keeping his façade partially intact.

"Izuna used a lot of chakra to complete that technique. Even if your chakra control is the best in the world, you can't make your chakra travel fast enough through air to reach me. Go ahead, my niece, I dare you to take a chance…" He laughed at her misfortune, but she smirked. She could see the slightest tinge of Akihiro's Susanoo's nin thread around her great uncle's ankles. Akihiro had come by to help, but both he and his susanoo were well hidden, both visibly and chakra-wise. Akihiro must have used some of the mountain's natural chakra-masking rock to hide himself. Well done, Akihiro! She silently thanked him and she prepared to poison her uncle with her chakra.

"Fuuton: Chorus of the Melancholy Dead!" She shouted.

-Meanwhile…-

Kakashi, Sakura and a group that specialized in sealing techniques arrived through Naruto's reverse summoning kunai. Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke battled fiercely with Obito while Sakura dodged and attempted to cut off the half of Obito's body that wasn't naturally his with her chakra scalpels. The sealing group hung back, ready to seal Obito until the time was right. They fought valiantly, also waiting for the five Kage to arrive incase Obito decided to bring in back up. Sasuke had filled the group in on what was going on, but refused to answer questions as to why he switched sides suddenly. Out of nowhere, Obito, realizing his backup was going to be late, summoned the Gedo Mazo, instilling fear in the group that fought with such valiance only moments before. The statue opened its mouth and screeched out a blast of chakra so powerful it shook the earth.

Sakura was about to dodge the blast, but an upturned root had caught her foot. She didn't have time to break free so she punched the ground, hoping she could hide in the crater she made beneath herself. She was falling into the crater, but she wasn't falling fast enough. The chakra attack was upon her. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping she'd escape with minor chakra burns on her skin, but when she opened her eyes she realized she was perfectly okay. She popped her head above the hole she made and noticed a man dressed in something similar to what anbu wore in front of her. He was encased in chakra that looked bright yellow, which Sakura realized was a susanoo. His mangekyou was activated, five connected tomoe spinning on the red of his pupils. He was panting hard; probably exhausted from the effort it took to block that attack. He had gotten there in the nick of time. He fell to one knee in front of her, arms up, mocking his susanoo, which was holding a long, samurai sword. She looked behind her and saw two columns of destroyed ground around the crater she made. She quickly jumped out of her hideout and joined the man as he allowed his susanoo to recede.

"Arigato." She stated. "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Kiseki. Pleasure to meet you." The man responded, his disheveled dark hair flowing in the wind as the Gedo Mazo turned to wreak havoc on Naruto, Kakashi and Bee and A, who arrived just a few seconds ago through Naruto's kunai. "And you?" He asked.

"Haruno Sakura." She responded studying the Uchiha in front of her. A few seconds later she blushed when she realized exactly how handsome he was, albeit a little bit disheveled from battle.

"I see. Sakura-chan, you're a medic, is that correct?" He asked out of politeness. He already knew the answer as she had a weapon's pack on her thigh and a medic pack on her hip.

"Hai." She responded affirmatively. Suddenly he grabbed her and relocated further from the Gedo Mazo.

"I need you to take this pill…" he explained holding up a green, round pill. "…and hand it to that girl, when she passes out over there." He pointed at the howling grey-black dome in the distance.

"A chakra pill given at exhaustion will exacerbate the swelling in her chakra pathways. That's not a wise decision." She scolded, her inner doctor coming out. His idea was crazy! She glared at him. Was he stupid? He smiled back at her.

"Your forehead's cute, you know?" He commented making her blush. His complement, however, didn't make her back down at all. She stared him down with just as much intensity and disapproval as she had moments before. "I see, so you're not the average girl, huh?" He commented when he noticed her refusal to back down. "I like that…" He mentioned absently. "In any case, believe me when I say that girl will be fine. She's done it before, while smirking in my and my teammate's faces. Even when the chakra pill wore off, she still smirked at us from the hospital bed. She's incredibly durable." Kiseki explained. Sakura gave him a wary look, but she took the pill from him anyway. It's not like they really had the choice to _not _do something crazy in this type of fight anyway.

"All right… when she falls I'll get her back up." She promised. Kiseki smiled charmingly at her and thanked her, returning to the battle between Obito and her teammates as she slowly made her way towards Saya's fight while avoiding life-threatening chakra attacks from the Gedo Mazo. It would take her some time to get over to the girl so she was glad she set out immediately.

-Saya-

Madara felt his niece's chakra run through his chest. He couldn't dodge, seeing as the boy had caught both of his arms and legs with a chakra thread woven by his susanoo. He came out out of hiding behind him, smirking like he had just sealed Madara's fate… The boy might as well have. Izuna's technique was created solely for the purpose of leveling the playing field between him and his brother. Now when he attempted to use his chakra, his energy would turn against him and damage his body. Her friend had not let him go, even when her chakra had poisoned him as well. The young man held tightly onto him even as his chakra recoiled in his body and fried its own pathways. The diligence and determination of his niece's comrade had shocked him. Oh how the world had changed since he was young…

"Akihiro let him go you've done enough!" Saya cried out in worry for her friend. She assumed Akihiro would let go at the last minute and her uncle wouldn't have enough time to dodge. She guessed her teammate had wanted to be thoroughly sure that her uncle would get hit with her chakra. She thanked him as he fell, his susanoo flickering out as he lost consciousness.

"You do realize that your technique is useless anyway? I can still use my chakra." Madara threatened. Saya glared back at him, unsure of whether or not he was lying. With elite chakra control, she held her wailing dome up and flashed through seals for the Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu. Her great uncle mimicked her actions, but when he molded his chakra to blow out of his mouth he faltered, screamed in pain clutched his chest, and just barely dodged her attack _and_ the howling wind attacks that shot out at him from her dome. He was like a rat trapped in a small box…

_"Damn it… her technique is as perfect as Izuna's was… she also added to the technique as well… this one is weak, but truly talented…" _The ancient man thought as he decided he would have to best her with just taijutsu and weapons. It did him no good that she was able to use her chakra as she pleased. Obito was too far away to realize he needed to de-summon him as well. He would have to stick this one out to the bitter end. Madara readied his last kunai as his niece charged at him with his brother's sword in hand. Her swordsmanship was impeccable. He clashed blades with her several times and suddenly, her determined expression became sly with a smirk he wasn't sure why she wore. Suddenly she burst into a puff of smoke, surprising him.

"Kage bunshin!?" He shouted incredulously as the sword that clashed with his kunai changed into its current wielder. Her delicate hand was enclosed around his knife and his fingers, her warm blood spilling down his wrist and up into his sleeve. Her sword was stabbed through his left arm and both her feet were on top of his, firmly keeping him in place with precision-controlled chakra. She pumped more chakra into her left hand and forced the sword that was through his right arm downwards and into the ground, effectively pinning him there.

"Kuchiose no jutsu!" She shouted and in less than a second, several, large nin cats were upon him, digging their sharp, talon-like claws into his arms legs and torso, effectively staking him into the dirt below. Wordlessly, Saya flashed through more hand seals.

"This is the last technique… uncle…" She murmured. "Sealing technique: Paralysis!" Five of her fingers glowed blue and he desperately tried to free himself, however, with his inability to use chakra, and the weight and strength of the cats pinning him, he couldn't physically do anything. She touched his forehead so gently with her fingers and he screamed as his muscles felt like they were beginning to turn into stone. This child… his brother's _granddaughter_ had defeated him… Though was only because of the help of her teammate and his deceased brother's technique that was somehow passed down to her. He was amazed that she had bested him with low chakra reserves… her chakra control must truly be the best any Uchiha possessed since his brother was alive. Once he was immobile, she collapsed, her cats disappearing, the howling dome above them dissipating. Her face was just inches away from his and her breath tickled his forehead as she inhaled and exhaled deeply, but raggedly. She looked so much like Izuna; he couldn't find words to speak with. She suddenly smiled at him. It wasn't a malicious smile, but it wasn't a warm smile either. For the first time in a long, long time Madara was confused.

"Checkmate, uncle." She spoke. "My purpose wasn't to kill you, uncle, or to dismember you, or even to get revenge on you… no matter how upset you made me for a moment there… it was just to checkmate you and tell you that when you die… whether it be now or later, at my hands or at someone else's… that I want you to tell my grandfather in the next life that I love him and thank him for creating such an awesome technique…" She stopped, breathing raggedly, eyes half lidded. Madara's eyes widened. "Also… tell him I kicked your butt with it…" She giggles softly.

"I don't believe I'll be going to the same place Izuna is in." Madara mentioned, fondly gazing at his family. He'd been to the afterlife once already. It was just cold, infinitely dark and hateful. Izuna was nowhere to be found there.

"My grandfather was your brother… He loved you up until the point you stuck your knife through his chest… and probably even beyond that…I'm sure if you seek him out you'll find him somewhere… you know?" She spoke in between rasped breaths. She had expended every last drop of chakra. Had she calculated everything up until this point? Amazing…

As he thought about her words some more, it occurred to him that Izuna had smiled the day he killed him.

_"You will find peace some day brother… at my hand…" _Izuna had murmured with a warm smile on his face as he fell to his knees, his heart drumming out its last few beats. Madara had always pushed that memory away, as before now it made no sense to him. Now he knew exactly what it meant as he stared at his niece's smiling face. This was Izuna's peace and forgiveness. His brother was asking him to join him in his own subtle way. To stop the hate and be happy with what he had in life. He smirked at himself. Jeez, he was becoming soft…

"You… Saya, was it?" He asked. Her dark grey eyes opened a little more and focused on his face as much as they could. "It was an honor to be killed by my brother's technique, and you should be proud you mastered it, weak as you truly are… I am proud to be in your lineage, and proud of you as a descendant. I trust you will carry on the fierce spirit into the future, and tell your children about how my brother and I…"

"Of course, uncle… if that's what you want… it's not a problem…" She murmured quietly as she watched relieved tears stream down his cheeks.

"Put your hand on my chest… I have something to give you before I die… a little bit of myself that I wish to pass on through the next generation." He spoke sounding so much older than he appeared as his body began to disintegrate. Saya wearily picked up her bleeding right hand and dropped it into her uncle's chest. Suddenly she felt his power travel through her. Her chakra must have increased ten-fold! Then it suddenly decreased as her body accepted it and locked it away.

"Arigato… uncle…" She murmured, feeling very tired.

"Sayonara…" The old man spoke as the rest of his body dissipated. "I'll tell Izuna about the amazing kunoichi his descendant has become…" She heard his voice, just barely a whisper on the wind.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

O-KAY! Wow that was a lot to get out! I'm so glad I wrote it though! This story has been driving me nuts for weeks and I finally decided to just write it and put it up here! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and here's a little sneak peak into what's up in the next chapter! Actually I'll let a few characters tell you instead of me.

"I appear." Orochimaru mentions as he freakishly licks his lips with his tongue… ew.

"Juugo and I come by to kick some ass!" Suigetsu shouts while stabbing the air above him with his sword.

"I make a friend, and Kakashi-sensei tries to get Obito-san to listen." Sakura states while helping Ino braid her hair.

"Hn. I prove my new intentions and reconcile with my old comrades…" Sasuke mentions at my request while he sharpens a kunai.

"My ultimate plan for Otouto future becomes clear." Itachi states as he drinks tea.

"You find out some interesting things about me…" Akihiro shyly mentions, olive green eyes looking away with embarrassment, a blush on his cheeks.

"I make an epic entrance and realize some interesting things!" Karin pipes up, trying to brush through the messy side of her hair.

Trycia-chan: And that's all the inside-info you guys get! ;) Quick poll to end this section and give you guys something to review about:

Who do you want Sasuke to end up with in this story and why?

Sakura

Karin

Saya

Some other Uchiha girl?

In the Naruto series, who is your favorite villain and why?

Tobi/Obito

Madara

Orochimaru

Kabuto

Other (mention who and why)


	2. War Heroes

|Secrets of a Shinobi|

|2|

|Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.|

-X-

Author Note: This took really long to update A) because of hurricane sandy I had no power for a few days and no internet for like a week and B) Because I couldn't decide on a few things plot-wise _ but it's here now so enjoy and let me know what you think! =]

-X-

|Orochimaru|

The snake sannin observed from afar as the Uchiha female he's been observing smiled as she watched her ancestor's soul finally find peace. He tensed, waiting for the proper moment as the beautiful girl's eyes blinked once, twice, then began to close a final time, her long, dark lashes- a signature Uchiha characteristic-slowly fluttered to rest just above her cheeks … it was finally time to prey upon her fallen form. She would become his new vessel: her body perfect, but her eyes even more so. Sharingan; he would finally attain it and a fully developed one that didn't seem to deteriorate under the stress of its mangekyou form. Orochimaru smirked to himself as he licked his lips in excitement. Itachi would be _livid_. The thought of finally triumphing over that _stuck up_ Uchiha prodigy elated him and he formed the necessary hand signs for the cursed seal and extended his neck towards the girl's body.

|Saya|

_"Saya-chan!" _ What was that? A memory? It sounded like Sasuke-kun's voice… _"Saya-chan, wake up!" _She remembered how he used to throw rocks up at her window in the morning to wake her and smiled. _"Saya! Get up!"_ It was Kiseki-kun's voice that was commanding her now. Stressed from her hallucinations, she decided she'd rather be awake and exhausted, than asleep and delirious. Lazily, she opened her eyes and saw a pale-faced head with black hair and fangs shooting towards her.

|Sakura|

Sakura panicked as she witnessed Orochimaru's head racing towards the Uchiha girl in the same manner it did the day the snake sannin sealed Sasuke's fate in the forest of death.

_"Move, Sakura! Faster! I won't let this happen to another person! I won't let him claim another victim, shannaro!" _Sakura thought as she pumped more chakra into her legs. She watched as the girl jumped into a push-up position, pumped chakra she really didn't have the luxury to expend into her hands and feet and launched herself into the air like a tarantula, just barely avoiding the bite that could have easily sealed her fate the same way it sealed Sasuke's. Sakura smirked as she finally reached her destination and brought her heel down so hard on the sannin's rubbery neck it audibly snapped and went limp. The Konoha Kunoichi wasted no time reaching the limp Uchiha girl who was now slightly convulsing on the floor. Forcing the chakra that fueled her life out of her body when she really had no business doing so must have done a number on her tenketsu and chakra pathways, causing the slight twitching the medic was observing now. Sakura frowned as she kneeled next to the girl. The next thing she was going to give her was most likely going to exacerbate her injuries, but she trusted Kiseki-kun's faith in his teammate. She rolled the fallen girl over, lifted her head, crushed the pill, forced it into her mouth, then pulled out a vial of water from her medic's pack and poured it down her throat. The girl swallowed the contents and the initial rush from the chakra pill brought her back to coherence. The girl's dark eyes fell on her medic pack.

"You're a medic?" She asked in a tired tone. Sakura nodded in response. "I like your hair color… it's different." The girl smiled in an amicable manner. Sakura smiled back, but began to heal her chakra pathways with her mystical palm technique. After the pill's effects wore off, her chakra pathways would most likely rupture and a complicated surgery would be needed to fix them. This way, they'd still be in an okay condition after the abuse the pill was going to put them through.

"Hey, when I get up, could you heal Akihiro for me? My technique…" She started, her voice cracking mid-sentence and tears spilling from her eyes. "…my technique must have really messed him up…"She tried again and successfully explained. Sakura frowned, understanding the girl's guilt and anguish over injuring a teammate. Sakura had hurt Naruto's feelings many a time. It never felt great knowing you purposefully hurt someone whether the pain you inflicted was emotional or physical, even if this time it seemed that injuring a teammate was the best or only course of action possible.

"Don't worry. I'll check him out. My name is Haruno, Sakura by the way. What's yours?" She asked.

"Uchiha, Saya. It's nice to meet you Sakura-chan." Saya greeted, maintaining her warm disposition despite being obviously stressed from battle. Sakura smiled back as she finished healing her and kept her questions to herself. She would find out how on earth this many Uchiha clan members survived later. Orochimaru would rebuild his body soon so she had to work quickly if she wanted to help Saya's friend. She pumped chakra into her legs and ran faster than her body's muscles could handle, reaching Akihiro just in time. She turned him over and recoiled at his pained expression. The man was handsome, but his attractive features were marred by his external display of discomfort. He was cold, shaking and pale: all signs of damaged or blocked chakra pathways. She made quick work of his condition as well, moving and unblocking the foreign energy that polluted his pathways. His expression relaxed and she gave him one last look before gently placing him down on the ground. As soon as she had turned around, she blocked a forbidden sealing technique with a kunai. Orochimaru's smirking face greeted her and she glared back at him. He was going to pay dearly for the pain he caused her and her team today. She would deal him the same pain twenty-fold and couple that pain with his death. Orochimaru seemed to feel this from her and he gave her a curious look.

"It's been a long time, Sakura-chan." Orochimaru prodded, stirring up old memories of a dank, dangerous forest and a screaming, innocent Uchiha boy in her arms. "It seems Tsunade-chan has taught you well. I haven't had my neck cracked so refreshingly in years…" He insulted with a smug expression.

"You have no right to call shishou that!" She screamed with fury, chakra-laden fist flying towards his face. Orochimaru jumped back several paces only to be roundhouse-kicked across the back by Saya. Sakura smirked as she watched Orochimaru spin midair from the force and then land on his hands and feet in a crouched position about ten meters west of where her and Saya stood parallel to each other. She ran to meet the panting girl while assessing the snake sannin's health from afar. There was blood seeping from his mouth, a sign that Saya's shin must have damaged his internal organs; one of them definitely being the lungs, the other most likely the left kidney. Orochimaru would be urinating blood back at his base if he somehow survived this fight.

"You should take a few minutes to let that chakra pill take full effect before you head over towards your friend." Sakura explained, extending a thumb over to where Kiseki was. Saya looked over and saw Kiseki struggling to keep a gigantic beast at bay. Her eyes widened in worry, then narrowed as she zeroed in on their opponent rising from his crouched position.

"It's not like he's going to just let me go, though. I'd also rather not just ditch you here, but if you can handle him alone, then I have a plan." She murmured so quietly that only Sakura could hear her. Saya cast a genjutsu on Sakura, explaining to her within it what her plan was while Orochimaru cracked his neck. She released her from the illusion a heartbeat before a snake summons was sent flying towards them, fangs snapping. The two girls dodged and Sakura threw kunai with exploding tags attached to them at the slithering beast. The weapons hit their mark, exploded and sent white snake-bits flying in random directions. The two girls were careful not to get any on them, in case the blood and guts were rigged to do something once attached to an enemy. Seconds later, Saya activated her Sharingan, and watched as Sakura tore the ground up in front of her with her fist, breaking the earth beneath Orochimaru's feet and causing the sannin to jump further away from them. Saya's Sharingan spun as she memorized Sakura's technique and ran towards Orochimaru, her grandfather's sword drawn.

Saya and Sakura danced around the older man who seemed to be an expert at dodging not only weapon-based attacks but taijutsu-based attacks as well. Sakura chased after him, fists flying, while Saya wove in between the two, trying to elegantly cut him to shreds in between. Saya feinted to the left, dodging a snapping snake, and then pretended to cut the snake's head off, casting a genjutsu, making the sannin believe he lost a minion. In reality, she was already to his right and had cut deeply into his leg. The sannin hissed once he realized this, grabbed his wound on instinct and was punched in the face by Sakura. The rosette sent him flying into the pink-tinged side of the mountain. Saya threw all of her smoke bombs at the sannin and the two girls began to fight again, Sakura throwing punches and kicks and Saya attacking with her sword. Orochimaru had closed his eyes and began to use his ears to aid him in dodging their attacks while the smoke exacerbated his wounded, right lung. The sannin coughed and spit up more blood as he dodged hit after hit. When the smoke cleared, the two girls back flipped and took defensive stances, their teamwork near-perfect.

"Shishou!" Sakura suddenly shouted as she realized the other four kage had arrived and were being viciously attacked by the gedo mazou. Sasuke and Kiseki were both using susanoo to combat and block the attacks, effectively protecting the five kage, while Kakashi, Naruto, Bee, Ino, Choiji and Shikamaru were trying to immobilize Obito.

"Go help out your master! I'll be done here in a minute!" Saya shouted. Sakura nodded, but paused to mention something.

"Don't get bit!" She cautioned as she sped away towards Tsunade. Orochimaru thought it odd, but an apprentice always viewed their beloved master as more important than any command or mission. It wasn't out of the ordinary for a soft-hearted Konoha Kunoichi to want to run to her master's aid. He faced his prey and smirked. This Uchiha body was going to be his now. Chakra pill or not, this girl couldn't handle him by herself. He was fighting a losing battle beforehand, because Sakura knew what he was capable of. She had seen his techniques before and had fought Sasuke who was his apprentice many a time. He had no element of surprise in a battle with Sakura, however she was gone and this Kunoichi, though strong, was still recovering her chakra and had no idea what he had in store for her. He smirked and ran at her. First, he would perform a simple paralysis seal, and then he would sink his teeth into her silky skin and permanently mark her as his. Afterwards, he would take her with him to one of his newer bases. She was older, almost an adult and much stronger than a genin; she would surely survive the cursed exchange and he would have a well-trained body to swap within a few months. It was perfect.

But something was a bit off about her expression. She was smirking, like she had the upper hand, even though she knew nothing about his hidden techniques. Even more so, she wasn't a medic. She couldn't even fathom the amount of forbidden jutsu he had under his belt, or the vast knowledge he had of her eyes and how they worked with her body and brain, so why did she carry such obnoxiously over-confident eyes? He swiped at her face with his seal, hoping to paralyze her, but she was just as good at dodging as he was himself. That fact alone made him want her as an apprentice even more so, but he kept his elation and excitement in check. Why wasn't she using the sword she was holding in her right hand anymore? Could she possibly be gathering her chakra into it to perform the attack she cornered Madara with? That was impossible. The chakra pill couldn't have recharged her chakra fully yet. She suddenly swung widely at him with the sword and out of over-cautiousness and paranoia; he back flipped several times to completely avoid the attack. She was eerily calm and her eyes were far too spirited for his comfort. Her whole psychology and confident disposition was out of place in the unfavorable situation he was sure she knew she was in. Was she trying to unsettle him? Perhaps she was just that good at bluffing, like that damned Itachi?

"Haven't you noticed yet?" She spoke haughtily, a condescending tone in her voice. His eyes narrowed dangerously. She was messing with him. He watched as her smirk widened. "This is your worst nightmare come true, shannaro!" She determinedly shouted as her black hair bled into pink and dark eyes lightened to mint green. Orochimaru's eyes widened. Of course! It was the Uchiha girl's _attitude_ that had bothered him. He didn't know much about her, but knew well enough to discern during their fight that she wasn't overconfident or smirked in the face of imminent death. She seemed calmer, like the Uchiha prodigy he was familiar with. She was calculating, not blatant and obnoxious like Tsunade's apprentice. His eyes darkened as he growled low. His prey had gotten away. The smoke bombs weren't something to exacerbate the injury to his lungs. Their purpose was to hide them transforming into each other! He had gotten so paranoid, and expected elite ninjutsu to come from the both of them, yet they used a basic academy parlor trick to fool him! He clenched his fist until his nails dug into his skin. Tsunade would lose a valuable village pawn today. He would make sure of it, he vowed as he glared at a smirking Sakura just five meters ahead of him.

|Saya|

She finally reached the Gedo Mazou statue. The cloaked, hooded guy who called himself Sasuke was facing the statue and next to him stood Kiseki. They both had their susanoo blocking earth-shaking chakra blasts. It began to rain as she saw Kiseki fall to his knees with the last attack. She sped forward, mangekyou activating, susanoo springing forth; ready to build a blockade around the hellish-looking beast. She somersaulted over the two Uchiha men-their faces a blur in her peripheral vision- rolled forward a few feet and slammed her hands onto the destroyed earth. Her susanoo shot outwards and wrapped itself around the struggling beast that screeched and blasted at the pink walls now surrounding it.

She had to protect the people around her who had come to help her village! She would never let them die, not after they selflessly aided her and even saved her life. Her will to protect seeped into her susanoo and the entity developed daggers on the inside of its body. She stared at the new development curiously, watching as the daggers stabbed through the beast, causing it to screech and struggle more against the paralyzing effects the knives possessed. She dropped to her knees and focused. If she lost control, the beast would be set free and it would make her new comrade's battle even more difficult. She closed her eyes and focused on strengthening her susanoo and making its internal armor stronger as the beast attacked it. She winced as she felt her chakra light on fire in pain, burning her from the inside out and the beast's chakra poisoned her own. This was definitely going to be a test of willpower and endurance…

"Kiseki, get away!" She shouted to her crush behind her, unsure of how much longer she could actually hold this beast before it tore her insides apart, starting with her chakra pathways. Her chakra felt swollen and sore, a good indication of how poorly her pathways and tenketsu were doing. Judging by her self-analysis, she didn't have too much time before she began to crumble away from the inside out. It would take the patience and mental stability of a saint to hold the monster at bay until their fight ended. She prayed someone had a solid victory outline, or at least a decent escape plan.

"Saya!" Kiseki sputtered behind her when he noticed her shaking from the pain. She ignored his voice and attentions in favor of focus that she desperately needed to keep. The mysterious Sasuke coughed behind her, sounding like he had been a bit roughed up. This beast's chakra had most likely injured both him and Kiseki physically through their link with their susanoo. She felt her own chakra becoming dark and evil as she held the beast at bay. She felt anger, pain, and hatred as she clung onto happy memories to keep her mind safe.

"I thought I told you to run!" She growled unintentionally at Kiseki. She didn't mean to sound so harsh. The stress she was under was unimaginable, but she knew Kiseki was shocked at her abrasiveness anyway. She had never spoken to him in such a manner before. A pang of guilt hit her heart as she mentally apologized to him.

"Let's go." She heard Sasuke speak as thunder started clapping in the sky above them. At least the odd, still faceless Uchiha seemed to understand. She heard the two men jump away and said one last prayer for herself as she continued focusing on strengthening her susanoo.

|Sasuke|

He had gathered the people that were needed for his plan to come to fruition. He had slowly accumulated Kakashi, Kiseki and Naruto and had hidden them behind a large rock formation, while Bee, the five kage and the Ino-Shika-Cho team distracted Obito.

"What's the plan, Sasuke?" Asked Kakashi, getting right down to business as usual. Sasuke smirked at his former sensei. It was a characteristic of his personality he had forgotten about and appreciated the familiarity of.

"It's basic; we're going to fool his eyes. He may have an incredible ability, but his eyes cannot focus on repelling genjutsu and executing teleportation at the same time. He can only focus one hundred percent of his power on one task at a time." He explained his observations of their enemy as he eyed Naruto, who looked confused, Kiseki who looked like he knew the plan already and Kakashi who seemed to be calculating whether or not Sasuke's plan would actually work.

"So we're going to have our new Yellow Flash do something very distracting and then what?" Kakashi continued for him while Naruto beamed at his new nickname. Even Sasuke had to admit, it was fitting and maybe _slightly_ cool.

"You're going to make a wall. In fact, you're going to make a tower, the tallest you've ever made." Sasuke instructed his former sensei. "And I'm going to strike him down with Kirin." Sasuke summarized, and then took a breath to elaborate. "This is where you come in." Sasuke mentioned as he looked directly into Kiseki's mangekyou. He wondered if the Uchiha was close to being blind or not, but dismissed the asinine thought when he realized his eyes were focusing on him intently and weren't the slightest bit glazed over. His brother's eyes were always slightly glazed over, at least the few times he'd seen him since he had awakened his mangekyou.

Kiseki's eyes were clear and sharp-looking, like Itachi's were when Sasuke was younger and used to watch him train with his father. Absently, Sasuke realized that Kiseki's personality reminded him a lot of Itachi. He visibly shuddered as he put that thought aside. The three men around him noticed the action, but dismissed it as they witnessed a determined expression settle on his face. If they wanted to survive this they would have to be the most perfectly functioning unit in existence. "How good are you at casting two different kinds of elite genjutsu at once?" Sasuke asked first, and Kiseki smirked in response like it was obviously not a big deal to him.

|Karin|

She made her way up the base of the mountain, jumping upwards from tree branch to tree branch. This mountain had the curious ability to mask chakra signatures, but nothing was good enough to get past her elite ability to sense chakra. She could still feel Sasuke's chakra, his energy raging as he fought against an evil, dark chakra that almost made her think twice about what she was doing. She didn't know if Sasuke's chakra just felt better next to the evil chakra, or if he actually changed. Her goal was still to kill him, but she needed to assess the situation first. It wouldn't be right to stealthily take his life if he had a change of heart. Naruto-kun and Sakura would be mad at her forever if that were the case. She felt the evil chakra become suppressed by a warm, loving chakra and zeroed in on Sasuke. He definitely felt different. He was excited, relieved, and fighting to protect something. The last faint emotion she could feel through reading his chakra signature was surprise. Something had shocked him and he still hadn't gotten over it. She wondered what could have happened to quell the evil and hatred in his heart as she increased her speed.

|Suigetsu/Juugo|

They had followed Orochimaru's trail and found him fighting what Suigetsu thought was an extremely attractive pink-haired girl. _"Man, this chick is hot!"_ He thought with a blush on his cheeks as he jumped out to help her. She narrowed her beautiful eyes at him at first, fueling his attraction to her more, but when she realized he was there to help she tensely turned back towards the snake sannin, her eyes assessing the advantages and disadvantages of her situation now that there were more people involved. Sasuke had commanded him to make sure Orochimaru didn't leave the hideout just in case something really screwed up happened, but the snake sannin had bested both himself and Juugo and it took the latter a while to calm down without the help of Sasuke's Sharingan. Actually, Suigetsu was shocked he had overall survived the whole ordeal with no serious damage other than dehydration. Regardless, their orders were to stop the sannin if he did anything other than sit patiently like a good snake-bastard. Well, he wasn't being a good snake-bastard so he decided to lend this Konoha Kunoichi a hand. That was the honest truth, and he told her so. She seemed to believe him and politely stated that she accepted his help and cooperation. Slowly, he found himself liking the volatile girl more and more.

|Utau|

Utau had snuck away from the rest of the village and was making her way towards the battlefield with great speed. She overheard Kiseki mumbling something about genjutsu-possessed nin out on the battlefield. According to him, there were a few hundred of them. They were of course innocent and under an evil man's control, so they were hard to deal with since they couldn't be killed. Utau specialized in sound-based genjutsu. Kiseki was a fool to not ask her for her help while he had dropped off the two orphans Akihiro found. She could override any genjutsu with her own and help them out a lot. She set determined eyes on the mouth of the escape tunnel and pushed off the ground harder with each step.

|Akihiro|

He opened his eyes and searched the horizon for Saya. He felt her chakra struggling against something demonic. His keen, olive orbs zeroed in on her kneeling form much too far away from him for comfort. He rose to his feet, noticing that something had eradicated her chakra from his system. His eyes fell onto a pink haired medical Kunoichi, a white-haired, purple-eyed man and an orange-haired man that looked and fought like a wild beast, but seemed to be helping the other two nin in his own, strange way. The three were fighting as a unit against a strange-looking pale man with long black hair that shot snakes out of his sleeves. He assessed that they didn't need his help and sped off towards his teammate. He noticed the possessed nin he had fought with Kiseki earlier had risen to strike her and prevent her from holding back a demon so evil he was sure it would tear her to bits if it got loose.

He pumped chakra into his feet and reached Saya in time to fight off several of the nin who were again speaking merrily with smiles on their faces, their eyes vacant and focused elsewhere, completely unaware of their surroundings and situation. He took care to push them back without hurting them. They were blatantly innocent and it would be immoral for him to kill or permanently injure any of them. He noticed a pink-haired girl hiding in the bushes nearby. Her eyes met his while he blocked a kunai, but neither of them posed a threat to the other's purpose so they mutually acknowledged each other and went on with their business. She seemed to be looking for someone and as she climbed out of the bushes, a possessed nin began to attack her. She flailed backwards and just barely dodged the strike. She was obviously built for spying instead of fighting. Akihiro pushed back as many ninja as he could and jumped to kick away the one that was attacking her. She gratefully blushed and decided to help him in return. Together, they silently kept the ninja away from Saya, hoping they wouldn't tire out until the battle came to a definite end.

|Sasuke|

Obito was thoroughly distracted by Naruto and his infinite, _annoying_, flashy shadow clones. Not to mention the old man still had to deal with the Ino-shika-Cho team and the five kage, who definitely had it out for him, especially Tsunade, Konoha's Hokage. At the sight of her fury, Sasuke had to admit he wasn't looking forward to going back to Konoha after the fight. In fact, he secretly hoped Yamagakure would take him in, even though he came here with the intent of taking the village hostage under the Tsuki no Mei. Regardless he would have to stay conscious at all times, even if he was on his last drop of chakra. If he passed out after this battle, Naruto wouldn't hesitate taking him back and God only knew what Tsunade's fury would do to him while he was chained up in a cell somewhere deep underground. They would execute him, plain and simple unless the dobe gave them a good enough reason not to.

Kakashi was doing a good job pretending to be seriously fighting Obito as well- shouting a few personal remarks here and there during battle that seemed to strike home- while Sasuke climbed the tower towards the sky to harness the electricity coming from it. Kiseki was keeping an eye on Obito and Sasuke while pretending to fight a possessed Iwa nin alongside of Karin, of all people, and his other teammate. As everything was going exactly according to plan, he reached the top of the tower, flashed through memorized seals and felt the natural lightning from the storm course through a predestined path he created with the chakra in his body. A dragon appeared in the sky, but Obito had not noticed it yet, since Naruto was doing his job all too well and the natural chakra-masking rocks prevented anyone below from sensing the impending doom through the storm that was already raging around them. He felt the genjutsu from Kiseki's eyes veil the dragon and create an image of another one coming from a completely different location. As Sasuke brought his attack down upon Obito he felt Kakashi use his mangekyou and sent his attack flying through his opening. Obito didn't move, confident as ever, since he had no idea that Kiseki had cast a three-layer genjutsu with his other eye on Kakashi, making it appear that the copy-nin hadn't activated his mangekyou at all and was still fighting the possessed nin. Obito cackled as he underestimated them all; big mistake on his part… His superiority complex would herald his end.

|Utau|

"Yo Akihiro!" She shouted as she activated her Sharingan. Akihiro glared at her, silently scolding her for foolishly running out onto the battlefield by herself. She shrugged his disapproval off and began to sing, pouring her chakra into the vibrations in the air. She focused, controlling the chakra sounds so that they reached only the ears of the possessed nin. The genjutsu on the nin had been weakened severely so she had been able to easily override it with her song, turning half of the hundred or so enemies into her own well-behaved soldiers with practiced ease. Her new pawns turned around and formed a defensive circle around Saya, Akihiro and the mysterious pink-haired girl that had yet to mention her name. She smirked and stuck her tongue out at Akihiro who gave her a peeved stare, but looked happy to be able to relax, regardless. He didn't look to be in too good of a shape and Utau wondered what could have happened to him while she was stuck with the rest of the clan.

|Karin|

Karin watched as the cute girl with long, dark pigtails sang, turning the genjutsu-possessed nin into her own pawns. She dropped to her knees, kunai still in hand and panted. That battle was exhausting. The Uchiha man next to her sat down and began to heal her after he gave his comrade one last annoyed stare. She almost giggled out loud; realizing that it wasn't often that this individual was proven wrong. She blushed as his warm, inviting chakra entered her system, healing the minor cuts and scrapes she had accumulated the past few minutes. She looked at his focused expression as he worked. He was handsome… _really_ handsome… she thought as her blush deepened. He must have felt her gaze on him and looked up at her. When their eyes met, he blushed and looked away, trying to heal her faster. She felt the nervous fluctuation in his chakra and placed a calming hand to her chest. Her heart was racing. He had a shy, stealthy kind of chakra that liked to hide, but she could get used to that. She closed her eyes and relaxed as she continued to bask in his chakra.

|Sasuke|

He smirked from the top of the dog-tower Kakashi created as he saw his plan work. Obito hadn't noticed their clever use of high-level genjutsu. He dematerialized, and then rematerialized in response to the fake genjutsu-kirin of Kiseki's design, while the real lightning attack had coursed through the portal Kakashi created and slammed into Obito when he rematerialized. The attack was so large, Sasuke didn't even have to aim it as it traveled through Kakashi's portal. Everyone watched as the lightning fried Obito's body, brain and chakra pathways. The older Uchiha began to convulse as the electricity was too much for the circuits in his brain to handle. Tch. Obito was no Itachi. He would be knocked out for sure. Sasuke would be surprised if the older Uchiha could even survive the attack.

Sure enough, when Kirin dissipated and the rain above them became heavier, Obito fell, half of his body a melted mess on the floor, his eyes rolling back into his head as seizures forced him to shake uncontrollably. The sealing group formed a circle around him immediately and first sealed his sharingan, then his chakra pathways and tenketsu, afterwards his hands and feet-or rather, his hand and foot-and finally the mush that seemed to be the rest of his body. It didn't matter that half of his body was a liquid mess attached to the other; one way or another, as soon as he stopped seizing that half of his body would reform and the seals would take their rightful place. He'd be sealed completely and unable to do anything; basically at the level of a civilian.

Naruto jumped up and down and cheered, bumping fists with A and Bee, while Kakashi stared at his dying ex-comrade with a far-away look in his eyes. Tsunade then slowly trudged over to the convulsing enemy, and healed his brain, stopping his convulsions. Just as Sasuke thought, the other half of the man's body reformed, but the sealing pattern was the same on both wrists and ankles. Feeling very tired, he fell to one knee, close to chakra exhaustion, and Naruto was upon him in seconds, shaking him in an annoying manner as was expected.

"Teme! Teme! Your plan worked! We won! We won! You're a hero just like me!" Naruto cheered loudly in his face, as bright internally as he was externally. Sasuke sighed as he prayed the Uzumaki would turn off his otherworldly glow; the brightness was starting to sting his eyes. Though it was a relief to know that Naruto believed he was a hero. It would help his case if, at the end of the day, he was forced to go back to Konoha.

"Naruto! Sasuke! What are you doing! Go help Sakura!" Kakashi commanded as he watched the Godaime walk towards Saya. Naruto's eyes widened as they zeroed in on Sakura fighting Orochimaru by herself, looking quite disheveled. Realizing the battle was only half over, he grabbed Sasuke by the hood of his cloak and started to run towards Sakura. Sasuke somehow found the energy to keep moving and rose to his feet before Naruto was able to drag him anywhere. The blonde let go of his hood once they were both running at top speed towards their pink-haired comrade.

|Saya|

"They left you…" The voices unanimously deadpanned in her mind.

"Shut _up_!" She ordered them. She was in an odd-looking sewer system. Where was she? She had to find a safe place, and fast!

"_He_ left you…" The voices rang. "He promised to protect you and he died… leaving you all by yourself. You were always alone… You will always be alone. You will always be the outcast…" They chimed together, their deep tones reverberating in her chest.

"We should just start calling you 'Konoha'." Kiseki's voice spoke, mirroring what he said to her earlier. Sasuke's serene expression on his childish face as blood dripped from him mouth popped up in her mind's eye.

"Outcast… ALONE!" The voices rang.

"No! There are people who love me!" She fought back. They were wrong.

"Your parents didn't love you enough to stay… everyone you touch DIES!" The voices exclaimed, showing her mind images of Kiseki and Akihiro; dead and pale.

"NO!" She screamed, dropped into the water below her and grabbed her head. Her broken voice reverberated across the sewer system she was in and demonic laughter could be heard drowning it out.

|Tsunade| Tsunade was about to touch the girl to heal her but a burst of biju energy blasted her away. The long-haired Uchiha boy just barely caught her as she flew backwards. Karin was next to him instantly, a kunai in her hand pointed toward Saya.

"Karin?" Tsunade questioned. What in hell's name was she doing here? The Godaime shook her head as she turned towards the Uchiha girl who seemed to be surrounded in a dark, black chakra.

"With all do respect, Godaime Hokage-sama I couldn't just sit in a jail cell and let you guys handle this yourself. I was going to finish off Sasuke myself, but I guess he switched sides. I fight for Konoha now, so since he's helping I guess I can't really take him out can I?" Karin explained her situation in one thorough sentence. Tsunade nodded in understanding. Sasuke was a headache she didn't want to tackle until she was in her office back in Konoha.

"She's fighting against an incredible hatred right now. She has superior chakra control, unlike any I have ever seen, but it'll be difficult for her to get out of this one by herself. She's already losing it." Karin explained the situation as she saw it. They watched the susanoo around the gedo mazou turn black and start to crack. It wouldn't hold much longer…

Tsunade saw a determined expression reach the long-haired, unnamed Uchiha boy's face as he moved away from her. He gathered healing energy into his palms. She watched him with wide eyes as he slowly walked over to the Uchiha girl who was now gritting her teeth and growling in pain. The Uchiha had healing capabilities? To Tsunade's knowledge Uchiha were mainly offensive-type shinobi. She had never heard of one being capable of medical ninjutsu, but she supposed she shouldn't be surprised. After everything Naruto had shown her was possible, she should expect there to be a first time for everything.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" She asked in a motherly tone when she regained her composure from her surprise. If he touched her he would hurt himself severely, or even break her concentration. The Uchiha stopped and turned around.

"Helping out my blood. Saya may have come from the Konoha part of the clan, but she's still an Uchiha. Furthermore, she's my teammate; I will _never_ let her go through this alone." He explained, stating the first full paragraph she heard him speak since he started helping them fight. He dropped to his knees behind his teammate and placed his hands on her back and poured his chakra into her, despite the chakra that whipped out at him, cutting his cheeks and his arms through his jacket.

|Saya|

She felt it: Akihiro's chakra! Somehow, it was encouraging and warm, telling her she could do anything she set her mind to. Most importantly, it solidly confirmed one thing: Akihiro was alive! That fact confirmed another: if Akihiro was alive and his chakra was calm and happy, that meant that Kiseki-kun was alive too! She opened her eyes, and a determined expression settled on her face. She stood in the dank sewage system and cleared her throat to speak.

"I don't know where this is, or who you guys are, but my teammate is telling me I'm loved and cared for. Sorry, but everyone's counting on me. I don't have time to dwell on my past or any hurt feelings I might have about it." She explained and when she turned around, she was in a quiet, peaceful darkness. This was where she usually went when meditating. She felt the dark chakra poisoning her system and she felt Akihiro keeping it away from her brain. She harnessed the chakra that the chakra pill helped her regenerate and channeled the dark chakra out of her body through her hands, into the ground and back into the susanoo, where it attacked the beast. She heard the monster scream and kept her flow of chakra clear, concentrating on sending any chakra the beast tried to poison her with back towards it.

|Tsunade|

Tsunade watched as the girl use her elite level of chakra control to expunge the poisonous energy from her system and send it back full-force at the beast. The blonde was stunned: this girl had the ability to become an incredible medic, possibly one of Sakura's level if she set her mind on it and acquired the right teacher. Once her susanoo regained its pink color and looked stronger than before, Tsunade called over the sealing corps to seal the gedo mazou into a special scroll. Sai was a part of that elite sealing group and he unraveled his scroll and readied his paintbrush. He had focused the entire time on harnessing his energy and thus was ready to perform the technique. The other elite sealers gathered around the gedo mazou in a circle.

"Uchiha-san." Tsunade spoke to the girl.

"Hai?" She responded, eerily calm even though she almost lost control while responding to the Hokage. The Godaime could only imagine what kind of pain this young woman was enduring and thus decided to make her explanation quick. They couldn't afford the gedo mazou running rampant at this point, even _if_ Uchiha Obito was sealed and on his way back to Konoha as they spoke.

"We are going to seal this beast one section at a time starting from the top. I trust you can let down your susanoo section by section?" The blonde asked, praying that she wasn't asking for something impossible..

Saya internally groaned. That was going to take a lot of control and concentration. She didn't think she could do it, but at this point she had to try. There was no way she was going to let this kind of evil out, not after fighting so hard to overcome it.

"I've never done anything like that. I can't promise it'll go smoothly." She stated honestly, her tone sounding tense even to herself.

"Your best attempt is better than a 'no'." Tsunade responded and raised her hand in a signal to the group surrounding the beast. The sealing corps flashed through a number of difficult hand seals and simultaneously bit into their thumbs. They channeled their blood above the head of the screeching gedo mazou that was caged within the Uchiha girl's susanoo. The droplets of blood shaped into sealing characters and hovered around Saya's pink susanoo as they awaited further instruction from the sealers. Saya felt the foreign chakra prod against her susanoo and took a deep breath. It was now or never. She would either royally mess up and kill them all, or hold her ground and help them seal this beast. She spoke a silent prayer as she let the barrier drop, possibly too quickly, just below the ring of seals. The gedo mazou tried to attack in that instant, but it was too slow, the seals were already locking around its head, preventing it from moving or harming anyone. Saya's heart pounded a mile a minute as she realized everything was okay and no one had died.

_"Susanoo… I need you to be the best iron maiden in history… please… don't throw this back in my face… please…" _

"Good. Now we have to repeat the same process a few more times. On my mark!" Tsunade commanded, her tone authoritative.

"HAI!" The sealing corps responded, weaving through more signs.

|Sakura|

"Sakura-chan, I wanted to thank you dearly for so easily giving me a successor to my techniques. Sasuke-kun was a great student." Orochimaru leered, obviously trying to play on Sakura's temper. She wasn't going to humor him. She smashed her teeth together and studied him carefully, forcing herself to stay quiet. He looked a lot like she did: scuffed up, but nowhere near death's door. She clenched a fist as he taunted her further. She would have killed him twice if it weren't for his forbidden molting jutsu, where he rebirthed himself from the shell of his previous body. She snapped his neck ten minutes ago and pierced his heart fifteen minutes before that. She would probably have to kill him several times more and get creative while she was doing it too.

She looked at the two bodies of Suigetsu and Juugo lying on the floor, their breathing labored. They had been poisoned and were dying slowly. Sakura didn't have time to stop and give them antidotes. Her situation was beginning to look grim. Orochimaru was quiet as he noticed her looking at them.

"For all your abilities as a medic you can't save them. They may have been interesting experiments, but they were no subordinates of mine. They don't have any immunity to my toxins and neither do you, dear Sakura-chan." He stopped there to laugh to himself. The sound was low, raspy and over confident. "I do hope you can dodge well. Sasori of the Sand may have been a difficult opponent to defeat; his poisonous weapons had a massive fatality rate, and you should be proud that you survived his assault, and even took his life, but you should also know that his offensive skills were pathetic compared to mine." With that sentence, two daggers extended from his sleeves. Sakura knew they were dipped in poison. Orochimaru ran at her, but she wasn't stupid, she knew it was a clone. She threw a spray of shuriken at the shadow, spun around before it could explode and blocked the real Orochimaru's daggers with a kunai. She remained silent, and continued to block and dodge his attacks. He seemed to be increasing his speed gradually. Eventually, Sakura knew it would be impossible for her to keep up. Sasuke must have inherited his speed from Orochimaru. She remembered the day she saw him on that mission with Naruto and Sai. She had blinked and the next thing she knew he was upon Naruto, hand on her blond teammate's shoulder as if he hadn't done anything spectacular. If Sasuke was _that _fast… how fast was Orochimaru, his _mentor_?

"_Damn it!" _She internally cursed as she blinked and Orochimaru was gone. She felt a small sliver of his chakra below her and jumped on blind instinct. When her eyes caught up to her situation, she realized she had just felt his chakra in a snake he had released to confuse her. When she turned her head not even a second later, she spun, logic telling her she was obviously headed straight for him, since she had fallen for his ruse. If Sakura had fought against any other Shinobi, she would have escaped by the skin of her teeth, however, Orochimaru wasn't just any other Shinobi and Sakura had gotten her arm scraped by his weapon. As she fell backwards towards the earth, she grabbed her arm and flipped herself over. Her feet made contact with the ground and she slid backwards, panting hard as she felt the poison traveling through her blood like liquid fire. She squeezed her arm, but it was too late for a tourniquet. She became dizzy suddenly and wobbled on her feet. Orochimaru walked over to her as her limbs began to feel like lead. She fell to her knees, vision blurry as she tried to focus on him. She watched him smirk with half-lidded eyes as he placed his foot on her shoulder and pushed. She fell over onto her back like a tree that had been cut down. She gasped for air as his laugh registered in her brain.

"Poor Sakura-chan… You fought valiantly but it just wasn't eno— his voice gave way to a gurgling sound deep in his throat. He sounded like he had been stabbed through the chest, his lungs filling with blood.

|Sasuke|

Sasuke sped towards Sakura, Naruto close on his heels. He knew the poison that was running through her body. He had been forced to take it before to build immunity to it. She would die within seconds if he didn't act fast. He forced his feet to move faster as he saw his former sensei push his ex- teammate over with his foot, and then raise a kunai to plunge into her chest. Sasuke didn't let that happen. Kusanagi had made its way through Orochimaru's back first, sliding through muscle, bone and vital organs. Sasuke knew Orochimaru wasn't dead. His forbidden molting technique would kick in and the sannin would be up within the minute, angrier than the prince of demons himself. He had a minute to transfer his blood to Sakura and save her.

"Naruto!" He shouted. His friend knew what to do and kicked Orochimaru's body away as Sasuke pulled Kusanagi out of it and dropped down next to Sakura, his hands ripping her medic pack from her side and spilling the contents onto the earth. He found a small vial with a pointy end, and two buttons on the bottom metal part that he was familiar with, thanks to Kabuto and a flexible rubber cloth that was made for aiding in taking blood. He ripped his left sleeve off and tied the band tightly around his upper bicep and waited for his veins to bulge. He wasn't a medic but Kabuto had taken his blood enough times for him to be able to successfully recreate the process now.

He took the vial, made sure the small metal "intake" button was depressed and found the vein he was looking for. He plunged the small needle into his skin and shuddered as he watched the vial fill with red liquid. The second the vial was full Sasuke unknotted the band and pulled the small needle out of his skin. Before a single drop of blood fell to the ground beneath him, he had depressed the "release" button on the metal part of the vial, pulled Sakura's glove off and injected the needle into a vein on the back of her hand. He watched the contents empty into Sakura's blood stream as he heard Orochimaru stand and curse at Naruto. The two began to fight behind him, but he focused on checking Sakura's vitals. Her pulse was regulating and so was her breathing. The immunities in his blood had transferred to her and thus counteracted the poison, like an antidote. The color returned to her face seconds after she took a full, clean breath and not even a moment later her eyes fluttered open and settled on his face. She was up in a heartbeat, scooting away from him, unsure of what was going on. He sat on his knees, as still as the trunk of a tree and waited for the situation to register in her brain.

|Sakura|

She looked at her medic pack scattered across the ground near Sasuke. Had he given her an antidote? She didn't have an antidote to counteract the kind of poison Orochimaru had infected her with, however. Confused, she studied Sasuke closely and finally took notice of the sleeve that was ripped off of his arm. He was bleeding, but it was only a pin prick. She felt something stinging the back of her hand and she gazed downwards. One of her vials was sticking out of her hand and she instinctively pulled it out. When she looked at the inside of the vial, she understood what had happened. Sasuke was immune to most poisons, most likely most of _Orochimaru's_ poisons as well. He had performed a somewhat botched blood transfusion to transfer the immunities in his blood to hers. She gaped at him shocked as she watched him rise to his feet.

"Sakura." He stated. She shakily stood up in sync with him, eyes focused on his form as he began to speak. "How many times did Orochimaru molt during your fight?" He asked. That sounded oddly… _constructive…_Was he going to _help_ her fight the sannin? Naruto wasn't lying when he said he felt a change in Sasuke's energy…

|Sasuke|

"Two." Sakura spoke, a distrusting expression on her face. Her leery attitude came as no surprise to him; They had tried to kill each other in the not-too-distant past. Regardless, her answer earned her a smirk from him. She looked surprised, but quickly masked her feelings with a blank, patient expression. Sakura had gotten a lot stronger and a lot let useless over the years. Somewhere deep down, Sasuke was proud of her: she had taken Orochimaru out twice. The sannin had a limit on that jutsu and Sasuke was about to kill him twice more to finish him off for good. This time the Uchiha wasn't going to leave any remains for leeches to feed off of.

|Saya|

They had finally managed to seal the entire Gedo Mazou. Almost immediately after she dropped her susanoo entirely, she fell over screaming in pain, her veins burning her from the inside out. It felt like all of the chakra she had left in her system was escaping through her arms, damaging the skin and bone on its way out. The last thing she saw was the Hokage's glowing green hands and concerned amber orbs before the pain became too much for her to stay conscious. The world began to spin and grow dark…

|Sasuke|

Naruto had stepped on a genjutsu tag and was currently frozen in place, his kyuubi- glow momentarily extinguished. Sasuke had no time to free him from the genjutsu the tag unleashed upon him the moment his foot touched it. He eyed Sakura, who was too far away to help as well and she nodded. They would take him down this last time together. Sasuke ran up to the sannin, feigning a straight jab at his forehead. Orochimaru-low on chakra- instinctively bent backwards and starting forming hand signs. Sasuke-also low on chakra- pulled off his purple obi and rope and threw it at the sannin's face, surprising him into a half second of immobility. That half-second was all Sasuke needed to wrap the rope from his outfit around Orochimaru's torso and immobilize him.

He shot a hand single in Sakura's direction, hoping she would waste no time in reaching him. Before he put his hand down she was already there, pounding into Orochimaru's body with chakra laden fists. Sasuke tightened his hold on the rope as Orochimaru struggled. Sakura punched and kicked and hammer-fisted until the body beneath the now bloodied purple cloth stopped moving. Sasuke activated his eternal mangekyou as he contemplated how symbolic the scene was. Orochimaru was dead within the cloth that marked his subordinates as his. Sasuke set the corpse alight with amaterasu and watched for a few minutes to make sure it turned into ashes. He looked over towards Naruto and saw Sakura freeing him from the genjutsu he was caught in. The dobe never had a talent for genjutsu anyway.

Sasuke shuddered as he felt something slimy travel up his leg. Fearing it was Orochimaru, Sasuke activated his mangekyou again, but it looked like a harmless green and white slug.

"Katsuyu." Sasuke stated, familiar with the Hokage's unique slug summons thanks to three years of tutelage under the man he just killed.

"Uchiha-san, please hand me to Sakura-san." The slug asked in a tense tone. He glared at it. What was he; their messenger boy?

"Hn." He begrudgingly trudged over to Sakura and Naruto who seemed to be talking amongst themselves and dropped the slug onto Sakura's shoulder. She shuddered a moment before she realized what it was and smiled at Sasuke in thanks.

"Katsuyu-sama, what can I do?" Sakura asked, probably already used to taking orders from the slug.

"Tsunade-sama requests your assistance for an emergency operation on the Uchiha female. Naruto-kun is requested to speed-travel to Konoha's hidden base and return with Hyuuga Hinata. Yamanaka Ino is already present at the operation site ready for surgery." The slug spoke.

"Surgery?" Sasuke somewhat snapped earning a worried look from Sakura and a frown from Naruto. He turned his piercing gaze towards the area where they had sealed Tobi. The Gedo Mazou was an inactive statue covered in seals and he could barely make out a form slumped over in front of it. His heart stopped when he found out it was Saya. He flash-stepped there, using up most of the chakra he had left in his body to do so. He appeared next to the Hokage-who was hunched over his old friend. The Godaime stiffened at his presence, unsure if he would attack. The Raikage, whose arm he cut off, stepped in front of her in her defense looking as angry and dangerous as an aggravated wasp. His chakra was practically _buzzing_ like a beehive as well. Sasuke glared at him and bristled in response instinctively.

"You will die for my arm and for the attempt on my brother's life, Uchiha-brat!" The Raikage snapped. He raised the one fist he had to slam down on the back of Sasuke's neck and Sasuke stiffened, ready to dodge. No attack came however, since Killer B stepped in front of him and began to rap.

"Yo bro, don't kill this Uchiha dude; it would be stupid-rude! He and I had a great spar-yo it was really just a friendly fight that didn't even leave me with a single battle-scar-oh!"

Sasuke stared at the older man's back, shell shocked. Bee was defending him? … After he tried to kill him?...

"Eh? So what's he going to do about my arm? Should he just be allowed to live after slicing off my ARM? And trying to end your life, huh, BEE!?" A deadpanned angrily, his tone dangerous enough to make Sasuke's muscle wind and tense tighter than before. Bee seemed unfazed however, seemingly used to A's temper.

"An Uchiha took your arm, so an Uchiha will give it back; that girl's susanoo can regenerate it; _and_ she has a nice rack!" Bee explained while dancing to the beat of his words. Sasuke glared at the eight-tails jinchuriki and silently cursed his bad rapping to hell, but he kept his mouth shut otherwise recognizing that for whatever reason this person was defending him, even though he shouldn't be.

"Bee…" A growled.

"Bro!" Bee rapped back, spinning around and winking at Sasuke then spinning back around to face his brother. "Oh-Oh! -dattebayo! –oh!" Bee danced and rapped. A pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. Once he was composed he glared at Sasuke so fiercely the Uchiha couldn't help but keep his hands near the seals on his wrists… just in case.

"You're lucky it was your tactics that saved us today, Uchiha brat. If I see you doing anything suspicious in or around my country that isn't documented I'll end you without a second thought- that is, if you survive the judgment of the other kage first!" A snapped, turned around and walked back over to the other Kage, Shikamaru, Choji, Karin and the sealing corps. Bee turned around and gave Sasuke a thumbs up, to which the Uchiha nodded his thanks. Bee walked over towards his brother after rapping a good luck stanza to Tsunade and Ino who was waiting next to her. Ino looked up at Sasuke with a worried look on her face.

"Uchiha." The Hokage greeted in a professional tone. Sasuke didn't expect anything less of her attitude towards him. He had a lot to answer for and it would be a miracle if his actions went mildly punished. "Judging by the names this girl mumbled in her unconsciousness I'm assuming you and your brother both knew her at some point." Tsunade spoke as she continued to hold Saya together.

"Aa." Sasuke responded as Sakura arrived, out of breath from running towards them. She dropped next to the Hokage. "She survived that night. I don't know how." Sasuke explained. The Hokage nodded.

"We're just numbing everything until Naruto gets here with Hinata, correct?" Sakura asked professionally.

"Aa. Standby until Hyuuga gets here." Tsunade responded. Sasuke watched as Naruto appeared from where his seal-decorated kunai was a few feet away from them, Hinata blushing madly in his arms. He delivered her to where Sasuke and the three other women were crowded around Saya.

"Mmm, S-suke-kun… Ita-nii…" Saya mumbled, her eyebrows pinched, sweat droplets dotting her forehead causing her bangs to stick to her skin. She looked to be in a lot of pain, even though she had three women numbing her with their chakra. Tiny circular bruises dotted the skin of her exposed arms and Sasuke wondered what on earth was going on with her. He had never seen someone in that sort of condition.

"What's wrong with her." He demanded looking at Sakura knowing she would be the only one kind enough to answer him. She frowned at him, not really wanting to divulge the information. He shot her an icy glare in response to her defiance and she glared back angry, but explained anyway as Hinata sat down in between Ino and Tsunade.

"She pushed herself way too far. She had run out of chakra, taken a chakra pill, then basically ran out of chakra again. Her chakra pathways deteriorated and burst, due to them being sensitive from a similar injury and the poisonous chakra from the mazou. Hinata is here because she can see the chakra pathways and can show me exactly where they are. Ino is here to project Hinata's vision into my and Tsunade-shishou's minds so we can properly heal her. Now if you'll excuse us, Sasuke, we have to get started on this immediately or else Saya-chan will have to quit her life as a kunoichi." Sakura explained professionally as Hinata activated her byakugan and Ino stuck chakra wires to each other their heads, essentially connecting their minds with her own. Sasuke took a step back and felt a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened and turned around but it was just Kiseki.

"I think we need to talk." He stated. Naruto, seeing this exchange stepped next to Sasuke with his arms crossed. He was going to be there for the Uchiha no matter what. Sasuke was his friend and if anything threatened him he would fight by his side. Kiseki understood the action and gave Naruto a half-smile. They followed Kiseki over to a flat rock where Akihiro, and Utau sat.

"Saya once told me about a friend of hers she believed to be dead. I'm going to assume you're that friend." Kiseki started and Sasuke nodded in response.

"Eeeeeeeh!? You and Saya-chan knew each other before?" Naruto asked, bewildered. "Is that why you helped her?" Naruto asked.

"I'll explain later, dobe." Sasuke responded.

"Tch. Baka-teme!" Naruto pouted and crossed his arms.

"Akihiro, Utau, and I just wanted to say that you're welcome to Yamagakure if you have nowhere to go after this. We understand your situation doesn't look too great considering the fact that you were on the wrong side when this whole fight started." Kiseki offered. Sasuke nodded and Naruto butted in as usual.

"Teme over here is going to be accepted back into Konoha, so are you and your whole village. You can be a part of Konoha again! Everything will work out; believe it!" Naruto promised. Kiseki nodded skeptically and crossed his arms, watching the group of women crowded around his teammate.

|Kiseki|

Kiseki's eye's scanned the battlefield. The Kages had begun working on transporting all of the formerly possessed nin back to their bases. The Konoha group-which consisted of a calculating looking man with spiky black hair, a woman with hot pink hair and eyes, a large man with swirls on his cheeks, the sealing corps and a pale man in a cropped tunic- was helping the other Kages in transporting people via sealing scrolls. Everything seemed to be rolling smoothly, which was a good thing, because Kiseki had his own matters to discuss with the elders. He turned to Utau who looked up at him innocently.

"Kiseki-kun?" She asked wondering what he was going to ask of her.

"I need you to run back to the village and send the elders a message from me about the status of this situation." He said. She pouted at him cutely, but nodded anyway. He sat down and wrote a long letter as several cloaked men in masks broke through the trees in the clearing. They watched the pale man who wore the half-tunic seal the gedo mazou in a large scroll, then took the scroll with them and disappeared. Once Kiseki was done he gave the letter to Utau who pumped chakra into her feet and ran as fast as she could towards their escape tunnels. A lot was going to change for the better over the next few weeks. Kiseki could feel it in his chest. He watched as the battlefield cleared until only the people who needed to remain were the only ones left in sight. That consisted of himself, Akihiro, the Hokage and her medic team working on Saya, the kazekage-who introduced himself as Gaara of the sand and friend to Uzumaki Naruto-, the Sasuke character who was Saya's friend, Naruto and Hatake Kakashi, the man who mentioned was the sensei to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's genin team. Their group watched from afar as a group of anbu surrounded the Hokage and her team in a standard-protocol defensive circle. At their arrival he saw Sasuke slightly stiffen, but his dark eyes never wavered from Saya's fallen form.

-X-

Okay this one wasn't as long, but it was definitely eventful! Phew! Sorry this took so long to post! Hurricane Sandy kind of messed me up and I couldn't make my mind up about a few scenes that I put in here! I also wanted to wait a few days before editing so that I could read and edit this chapter with a fresh mind and maybe add in some scenes that would make the story flow better, but anyway I'm glad I got to write this much! Please review because I'm dying to see what you guys think!

Here's a quick poll before we do the next chapter preview with our characters!

Who would you like to see Sakura the most with:

A)Akihiro

B)Kiseki

C)Suigetsu

D)Someone else, tell me who

Do you guys think Naruto will finally become Hokage at the end of the series!?

A) Yes

B) NO the ending will be left for us to just ASSUME he became hokage

C) Another ending –you let me know what you think it will be-

Which side-pairing in this story do you guys like the most?

A) AkihiroXKarin

B) Akihiro + Sakura

C) Kiseki + Karin

D) Kiseki + Sakura

E) Kiseki + Saya

F) Tsunade + A

G) Gaara + Sakura

NEXT TIME ON SECRETS OF A SHINOBI!

"Author-san, it was rude of you to kill me." Orochimaru informs with an uncharacteristic pout on his pale face.

"Oh hush. If you wanted to be a crybaby you should have auditioned to be Sakura at the beginning of the series." Author snapped back earning a glare from Sakura. "I'm kidding Sakura-chan."

"During the next chapter I become Hokage!" Naruto loudly exclaims.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru mumbled. "Naruto, stop lying." The Nara sighs with his arms crossed.

"Next time on Chapter three of Secrets of a Shinobi: I might just wake up." Saya explains.

"I make a friend!" Utau-chan exclaims.

"We have a trial." Tsunade mentions in a bored tone as she sips sake.

"My fate is questioned." Sasuke murmurs.

"I make a brief appearance." Itachi reveals.

"Itachi-san!" The author exclaims, surprised Itachi decided to show up. The elder Uchiha nods a greeting.

"The five Nations celebrate." Kakashi explains as he reads icha-icha paradise.

-X-

Well there you have it! Again let me know what you guys think and see you next time!


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